FOOTSTEPS  IN  THE  PATH  OF  LIFE 


LWAWAwXrAt 


MARCUS    DODS  D.D. 


tihvaxy  of  t:he  tlieolojicd  ^eminarjp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

The  Estate  of  the 
Rev.  John  B.  Wiedinger 

BT  113  .D6  1909 
Dods,  Marcus,  1834-1909. 
Footsteps  in  the  path  of 
life 


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Iffi"'"' 


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FOOTSTEPS  IN  THE  PATH  OF  LIFE 


'^         ■    l»f«W#.'^    o^ 


FOOTSTEPS   INf^HE  lo/^ 
PATH    OF    LI*^^" 


MEDITATIONS   AND   PRAYERS  FOR 
EVERY   SUNDAY   IN    THE   YEAR 


MARCUS    DODS,    D.D. 


HODDER    AND    STOUGHTON 
NEW   YORK   AND   LONDON 


Printed  in  1909 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 
SEEKING      .       .       .       .       .       .1 

CHRIST  THE  WAY     .       .       .       .       .4 

GOD  THE  FATHER — THROUGH  CHRIST,  THE  ELDER 

BROTHER  .       .       .       .       .       .7 

GOD     THE    FATHER — CONSEQUENCES     OF    THIS     RELA- 
TIONSHIP   .  .  .  .  .  .10 

GOD  THE  FATHER — THEREFORE  WE  MUST  LIVE  AS  SONS      13 

GOD   THE   FATHER — UNLIMITED   POWER   OP   GOD  16 


GOD   THE    SON — MANIFEST   IN   HUMAN   NATURE 

GOD   THE    SON — HUMBLING   HIMSELF     . 

GOD     THE     SON — GOD's     PURPOSE     FOR    MAN    ACCOM 
PLISHED   WHEN   JESUS   DIED   ON   THE   CROSS 


19 
22 

25 


GOD   THE    SON — POWER  OF  HIS   SACRIFICE  TO  ATTRACT 

ALL   MEN    TO   HIM  .  .  .  .28 

V 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

GOD     THE     SON — MOURNING     THE     LOSS     OF    CHRIST'S 

PRESENCE .  .  .  .  .  .31 


GOD    THE    SON — APPEARANCE    TO    MARY   SHOWS    COM- 
MUNION  POSSIBLE    TO   ALL  .  .  .34 

GOD   THE    SON — REALITY   OF    BOND    BETWEEN    CHRIST 

AND    HIS   DISCIPLES  .  .  .  .37 

GOD   THE    SON — THAT  HIS  PRESENTATION  NECESSARILY 

DIVIDES   MEN   INTO   TWO   CLASSES  .  .      40 

GOD   THE    SON — HIS   SACRIFICE   AND   OURS  .  .      43 

GOD   THE    SON — HOW   WE   MAY   BECOME   SONS  .  .      46 

GOD   THE    HOLY    SPIRIT — THE    GIFT  OF  THE   ASCENDED 

SAVIOUR      .  .  .  .  .  .49 

GOD   THE    HOLY   SPIRIT — CONVINCES   OF   SIN     .  .      52 

GOD    THE    HOLY   SPIRIT — AS    SPIRIT   OF   TRUTH  .      55 

GOD   THE   HOLY   SPIRIT — HELPING   IN   PRAYER  .      58 

THIRSTING   FOR   GOD      ,  .  .  .  .61 

SUFFICIENCY   OF   GRACE   IN    GOD  .  .  .64 

STRENGTH   IN   WEAKNESS  .  .  .  .67 

PRESENT   VICTORY   OVER    SIN     .  .  .  .70 

vi 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FOEGIVENESS  THE  ROOT  OF  PURITY  .       .  .73 

THE  REAL  VALUE  OF  LIFE    .       .       .  .76 

WILL  GOD  IN  VERY  DEED  DWELL  WITH  MEN  ?  .   79 

REALITY  OF  UNSEEN  HELP   .       .       .  .82 

THINGS  FREELY  GIVEN       .       .       .  .85 

god's  HELP  EVER  PRESENT  TO  FAITH       .  .   88 

CALLED  according  TO  GOD's  PURPOSE      .  .   91 

god's  grant  and  our  CONQUEST    .       .  .94 

CHRIST  OUR  PASSOVER,  REPRESENTATIVE  OP  THE 

RACE     .       .       .       .       .  .97 


CHRIST   OUR   PASSOVER,    SACRIFICED   FOR   US 
CHRIST   THE    NEW   AND   LIVING   WAY     . 
NO   NEW   LIFE    WITH   THE   OLD   HEART 
FULNESS   OF   LIFE   IN   CHRIST'S   LIFE     . 
TRUE   MANHOOD 

IN  god's  will  our  peace 

"  OCCUPY  TILL  I  COME  " 


100 
103 
106 
109 
112 
115 
118 


THE  BREAD  OF  LIFE — GOD  SHARING  WITH  US       .  121 

vii 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 
THE   BEBAD   DISPENSED   THROUGH   OUR  MEANS  .    124 

COMING  TO   CHRIST         .....    127 

CHRIST     DOES    NOT    COME    TO    THOSE    WHO    DO    NOT 
WAIT   FOR  HIM 

HOW   WE   MAY   HELP   MEN 

NEWNESS   OF   LIFE 

CALLED  WITH   A   HOLY  CALLING 

"  I   AM   THE   LIGHT   OF   THE   WORLD  "  . 

"WHEN   MY   HEART   IS   OVERWHELMED   WITHIN   ME 

FIRST   COMMUNION 

•'BECAUSE    I   LIVE,    YE    SHALL   LIVE   ALSO " 

MORTALITY   SWALLOWED   UP   OF   LIFE  . 

VICTORY   OVER   DEATH  . 

PULPIT   PRAYERS 


.  129 

.  132 

.  135 

.  138 

.  141 

N  ME  "  .  144 

.  147 

.  150 

.  153 

.  156 

.  159 

Vlll 


FIRST    SUNDAY 


SEEKING 


"  I  would  seek  unto  God." — Job  v,  8. 

"The  Lord  is    good  to    the    soul  that  seeketh  Him." — 
Lamentations  iii.  25. 

rnHERE  are  men  who  set  out  with  the 
"^  inborn  conviction  or  instinct  that  there 
is  something  worth  seeking,  worth  the  labour 
and  the  search  of  a  life,  something  which 
will  abundantly  repay  us,  and  to  which  we 
can  wholly,  freely,  and  eternally  give  our- 
selves up,  and  on  which  we  shall  delight  to 
spend  our  whole  strength  and  capabilities. 
Such  a  man  refuses  to  be  satisfied  with 
the  moderate,  often  interrupted,  and  often 
quenched  joys  of  life.  He  considers  physical 
health,  the  respect  of  his  fellow-men,  a  good 
education,   good   social  position,   and   so   forth, 

Footnteps.  J  B 


SEEKING 

as  all  goodly  pearls,  but  he  is  not  going  to 
sit  down  satisfied  with  these  things  if  there 
is  anything  better  to  be  had.  He  refuses  to 
have  anything  short  of  the  best.  He  goes 
on  from  one  acquirement  to  another.  Money 
is  good,  he  at  first  thinks,  but  knowledge  is 
better :  he  parts  with  the  one  to  get  the 
other.  Friendship  is  good,  but  love  is  better, 
and  he  cannot  satisfy  himself  with  the  one 
but  must  have  the  other.  The  respect  of 
his  fellows  is  good,  but  self-respect  and  a 
pure  conscience  are  better.  Human  love  is 
a  goodly  pearl,  but  this  only  quickens  him 
insatiably  for  the  love  of  God.  He  must 
always  have  what  is  beyond  and  best.  He 
believes  that  God  has  not  created  us  to  be 
partially  satisfied,  happy  at  intervals,  content 
with  efforts,  believing  ourselves  blessed,  dis- 
guising the  reality  of  our  condition  by  the 
aid  of  fancy,  or  fleeing  from  it  on  the 
wings  of  hope,  but  to  be  partakers  of  His 
own  blessedness,  and  to  enjoy  eternally  the 
sufficiency  of  Him  in  whom  are  all  things. 


PRAYER 

O   God,   we   thank   Thee   for    this    life,   with 
all    its    joys,    its    opportunities,    its    discipline. 
But  we    could    scarcely  thank    Thee   for    this 
life  had   we    no   hope    of    a   better,    in  which 
all    we    here    learn     may    be    used,     and     in 
which  all  we  have   here   loved  may  be  fully 
enjoyed.     Increase    our   faith,   and    give    us    a 
more    lively    apprehension    of    the    reality    of 
things    unseen,    a    firmer    assurance    that    life 
is  not  a  vain   and  fruitless   spending  of  time, 
that  there  is  a  purpose  in  it,  the  attainment 
of   which    will    justify  all    toil,   and    sacrifice, 
and  thought,  an^  feeling. 


SECOND    SUNDAY 

CHRIST  THE  WAY 

"  Shew  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us." — John  xiv.  8. 
"I  am   the  Way,  and  the   Truth,  and  the  Life." — John 
xiv.  6. 

ITT  is  to  the  Father  that  Christ  is  the  Way. 
And  He  is  the  Way,  by  being  the  Truth 
and  the  Life.  It  was  the  truth  He  came 
into  the  world  to  be  witness  to.  He  saw  as 
plainly  as  we  see  that  to  venture  our  eternal 
hope  on  His  word  is  not  easy.  And  yet  He 
answered  promptly  and  with  authority  the 
questions  which  have  employed  the  lifetime 
of  many  and  baffled  them  in  the  end.  He 
answered  them  as  if  they  were  the  very 
alphabet  of  knowledge.  These  alarmed  and 
perturbed  disciples  ask  Him,  "Is  there  a  life 
beyond?  Is  there  another  side  of  death?" 
"  Yes,"  He  says,  "  through  death   I   go   to   the 

4 


CHRIST    THE    WAY 

Father."  "Is  there,"  they  ask,  "for  us  also  a 
life  beyond?  Shall  such  creatures  as  we  find 
sufficient  and  suitable  habitation  and  welcome 
when  we  pass  from  this  warm,  well-known 
world?"  "In  My  Father's  house,"  He  says, 
"are  many  mansions."  Confronted  with  the 
problems  that  most  deeply  exercise  the  human 
spirit.  He,  without  faltering,  pronounces  upon 
them.  For  every  question  which  our  most 
anxious  and  trying  experiences  dictate  He  has 
the  ready  and  sufficient  answer,  "  I  am  the  Truth." 
He  says,  not  merely,  "  I  speak  the  truth,"  but 
"  I  am  the  Truth."  In  His  person  and  work 
we  find  all  truth  that  it  is  essential  to  know. 
He  is  the  true  Man,  the  revelation  of  perfect 
manhood,  in  whom  we  see  what  human  life 
truly  is.  In  His  own  history  He  shows  us  our 
own  capacities  and  our  own  destiny.  An  angel 
or  an  inanimate  law  might  tell  us  the  truth 
about  human  life,  but  Christ  is  the  Truth.  He 
is  a  man  like  ourselves.  If  we  are  extinguished 
at  death,  so  is  He.  If  for  us  there  is  no  future 
life,  neither  is  there  for  Him.  He  is  Himself 
human. 

5 


PRAYER 

To  whom  can  we  come  but  unto  Thee? 
Thou  alone  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  We 
thank  Thee,  O  God,  that  Thou  hast  revealed 
Thyself  to  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  He  has 
come  to  show  us  that  it  is  eternal  life  to 
know  Thee,  the  Father,  and  to  trust  Thee  even 
as  He  trusted  Thee,  and  to  lift  us  up  into  His 
own  filial  fellowship  with  Thee.  He  has  said, 
"  Whoso  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father," 
and  we  would  be  sharers  in  the  blessedness  of 
those  who  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed, 
who  can  say  from  the  heart,  "  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 


THIRD    SUNDAY 


GOD   THE   FATHER 


"  Thou  art  my  Father,  my  God."— Psalm  Ixxxix.  26. 
"  Abba,  Father."— Mark  xiv.  36. 

"  No  less  than  Thee,  0  Father,  do  we  need, 
A  God  to  friend  each  lonely  one  of  us." 

ITT  was  for  Christ  the  Son  to  give  us  this 
liberty  of  calling  God  "  our  Father." 
There  is  something  more  here  than  the  mere 
acknowledgment  of  God  as  our  Creator  and 
Keeper.  By  Christ  we  are  lifted  to  quite  a 
new  level  and  rank  before  God.  The  Creator 
is  included  in  the  Father,  but  in  the  Father 
we  have,  over  and  above,  the  assurance  that 
our  connection  with  Him  is  one  of  love  and 
of  lasting  relationship  ;  that  we  shall  not  be 
suffered  to  go  adrift,  but  shall  be  brought  up 

7 


GOD  THE  FATHER 

into  His  likeness,  and  live  with  Him ;  and 
that  the  ground  on  which  this  is  established 
is  one  of  unutterable  dignity,  the  Son  of  God 
having  become  our  Brother,  our  nature  being 
now  worn  by  the  same  Person  who  wears 
the  nature  of  God.  If,  therefore,  we  do  not 
acknowledge  Christ  in  saying  "  our  Father," 
this  epithet  is  either  profane,  misty,  or 
heathenish.  The  heathen  called  God,  Father, 
seeing  the  goodness  but  not  understanding  the 
majesty  of  Him  on  whom  they  called.  And 
there  is  among  ourselves  a  confused  idea  of 
the  love  of  God,  and  of  His  desire  to  bless 
us,  which  seems  to  justify  our  calling  God 
as  by  a  figure  "  our  Father."  But  it  is  no 
such  confused  and  delusive  figure  that  Christ 
sets  before  us,  but  a  reality.  It  is  a  fact 
accomplished,  that  God  has  become  man ;  a 
present  reality,  that  God  is  man.  The  Son  of 
God  has  become  Son  of  Man,  and  for  this 
very  purpose,  that  we  might  receive  the  adop- 
tion of  sons,  that  we  might  claim  the  same 
Father  as  Christ  claims. 


8 


PRAYER 

We  thank  Thee  for  Thy  goodness  in  mak- 
ing us  capable  of  becoming  Thy  children,  and 
for  Him  who  has  redeemed  us  and  shown  us 
the  path  of  life.  Enable  us  to  judge  of  Thy 
government,  its  holiness,  its  wisdom,  its  be- 
nignity, its  glory,  by  this  meeting  of  God  with 
man  in  Christ  Jesus.  Enable  us  to  estimate 
Thy  character  by  it,  and  to  judge  what  we 
may  expect  of  Thee  by  what  Thou  hast  already 
done  for  us  in  Christ. 


FOURTH    SUNDAY 


GOD  THE  FATHER 


"  No  man  cared  for  my  soul.    I  cried  unto  Thee,  O  Lord."- 
PSALM  cxlii.  4. 


"Yet  possessing  every  blessing, 
If  our  God  our  Father  be." 

/^UR  relationship  to  God  has  been  estab- 
^■^^  lished ;  the  Elder  Brother  of  our  race 
calls  God,  Father ;  and,  irrespective  of  all  that 
may  result  from  it,  this  relationship  is  satis- 
fying to  man.  Our  natures  are  bound  to  that 
of  God  in  the  person  of  Christ,  and  as  long 
as  that  Person  remains  undestroyed  we  remain 
related  to  God.  There  is,  of  course,  no  earthly 
relationship  which  fully  sets  forth  this  our 
connection  with  God.  It  is  a  separate  singu- 
lar reality,  and  it  must  be  conceived  of  sepa- 
rately in  its   own   reality.     Other  relationships 

10 


GOD  THE  FATHER 

may  help  us  to  understand  it ;  but  while  it  is 
only  considered  under  earthly  figures,  we  are 
in  danger  of  forgetting  that  underneath  there 
lies  the  substantial  reality  of  our  sonship ; 
and  this,  instead  of  being  less  true  than  earthly 
relationships,  is  the  one  relationship  which, 
when  a  man  enters  into,  he  ceases  to  be  home- 
less and  a  wanderer,  a  fugitive  and  vagabond 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  from  the  face 
of  God — ceases  to  be  a  mere  withered  leaf 
borne  helpless  on  the  wind,  whose  origin  none 
cares  to  trace,  and  whose  destiny  none  turns 
to  see ;  he  has  found  his  place  in  the  uni- 
verse, he  has  found  a  hold  and  a  hope,  and, 
however  in  himself  unstable,  weak,  and  in- 
capable, he  rests  enduringly  in  the  unchangeable 
Father.  He  has  been  outside,  thinking  the 
world  a  strange,  cold,  barren,  friendless,  and 
unsatisfying  place ;  he  has  wandered  about, 
not  seeing  through  the  thick  cloud,  and  still 
less  dreaming  that  One  was  seeing  and  car- 
ing for  him,  and  now  he  finds  he  has  a 
Father — One  to  love,  One  to  serve.  One  to 
glorify,  One  to  worship. 

11 


PRAYER 

Save  us  from  finding  hoUowness  in  our  own 
hearts,  and  monotony  and  weariness  in  our 
lives.  Give  us  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God, 
perfectly  to  approve  of  Thee  and  Thy  will,  to 
be  wholly  satisfied  with  the  dominion  under 
which  we  are,  and  to  delight  in  all  that 
is  required  of  us,  knowing  we  serve  our 
Father.  Give  us  the  joy  of  those  who  are 
conscious  they  have  found  and  need  never 
more  lose  perfect  love  and  perfect  goodness. 


12 


FIFTH    SUNDAY 

GOD  THE  FATHER 

'•  Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven."— Matthew  vi.  9. 

"Father  of  heaven,  whose  love  profound 
A  ransom  for  our  souls  hath  found." 

TS  it  so  sacred  a  ground  as  this  that  we 
are  to  tread  in  each  day's  ordinary- 
approach  to  God?  No  other  path  is  open. 
The  only  prayer  our  Lord  will  teach  begins 
"Our  Father."  These  words  it  is  easy  to 
use  in  the  figurative  sense,  but  this  sense 
wins  us  nothing.  It  goes  round,  like  a  thief 
or  a  robber  seeking  another  entrance  to  the 
favour  of  God  than  the  door  that  He  has 
Himself  opened  in  Christ,  and  therefore  it 
brings  us  no  nearer  God,  but  only  misleads 
us.     And   there   is   no   need   that  we   seek   for 

13 


GOD  THE  FATHER 

another  entrance,  for  the  door  is  wide  enough. 
If  we  say  that  we  are  born  of  woman  as 
Christ  was  "born  of  a  woman"  then  His 
Father  owns  us.  There  is  no  man  who  may 
not  use  this  prayer,  for  the  title  does  not 
lie  in  the  petitioner  but  in  Christ. 

But  these  words  may  be  abused.  A  man 
may  shrink  from  this  holy  relationship  and 
yet  call  upon  God.  Of  course  he  gains 
nothing  by  it.  God  knows  who  come  to 
Him  through  Christ,  and  who  only  name  the 
name  of  Christ.  But  we  may  deceive  our- 
selves, and  therefore  we  are  to  listen  to 
conscience,  which  tells  us  that  a  likeness  is 
expected  between  father  and  child.  Such 
an  assimilation  Christ  supposes  when  He 
says,  "Love  your  enemies,  do  good  to  them 
that  hate  you,  that  ye  7nay  be  the  children  of 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  But  as 
the  earthly  parent  feels  a  new  bond  to  his 
child  when  the  child  in  its  first  efforts  at 
language,  calls  upon  him  and  claims  him  as 
his  father,  so  the  first  movement  of  the 
Spirit    of    Holiness    within   the    child    of    God 

14 


GOD  THE  FATHER 

teaches  him  to  cry,  "Abba,  Father,"  and  im- 
perfectly though  it  be  spoken,  God  hails  it 
as  the  sign  of  holiness  begun  and  as  the 
earnest  of  likeness  to  Himself. 


Prayer 

We  are  ashamed  that  we  should  have  cared 
so  little  for  these  spirits  of  ours  for  which 
Thou  hast  cared  so  constantly  and  tenderly 
and  sacrificed  so  dearly.  We  have  not  been 
diligent  in  the  use  of  the  means  Thou  hast 
provided,  and  when  we  have,  we  have  often 
trusted  more  to  them  than  to  Thy  Spirit. 
Give  us,  we  beseech  Thee,  the  heart  of  chil- 
dren, that  we  may  trust  Thee  utterly  and 
believe  that  Thy  Spirit  is  able  to  bring  us 
to  live  a  life  like  unto  Thine. 


15 


SIXTH    SUNDAY 

GOD  THE  FATHER 

"Our  God  is  in  the  heavens." — Psalm  cxv.  3. 
"He   hath   done  whatsoever    He    hath    pleased," — Psalm 
cxxxv.  6. 

"  Oh  little  heart  of  mine  I  shall  pain 
Or  sorrow  make  thee  moan, 
When  all  this  God  is  all  for  Thee, 
A  Father  all  thine  own  I  " 

TTIROM  the  darkness  of  earth  we  pray  to 
Him  who  is  the  light  of  heaven ;  and 
from  the  confusion  of  earth  and  its  perplexity 
we  pray  to  Him  who  sits  above,  seeing  to  the 
end  and  ordering  all  things ;  from  the  trouble 
and  weakness  of  earth  we  cry  up  to  the 
blessed  and  only  Potentate,  God  over  all 
blessed  for  evermore.  This  is  our  comfort, 
that  while  we  are  involved  in  this  world  we 
can    appeal   to   One   who  is  above  it  and   un- 

16 


GOD  THE  FATHER 

controlled  by  it.  Our  prayer  will  not  proceed 
in  faith  until  we  raise  God  high  above  us  and 
all  that  we  know,  to  the  very  supreme  of 
power.  When  the  utmost  skill  and  strength 
of  the  child  have  failed,  he  runs  to  his  father, 
never  doubting  that  with  him  is  more  skill 
and  sufficient  strength.  And  we  must  learn 
to  cease  from  measuring  the  power  of  God  by 
our  own,  and  reasoning  from  the  one  to  the 
other.  We  must  learn  to  set  God  above  His 
own  laws,  not  that  He  will  reverse  them, 
but  use  them  as  we  know  not  how.  We  are 
not  to  think  that  where  we  see  no  possi- 
bility God  sees  none,  that  when  all  human 
skill  has  been  fruitlessly  spent  there  is  no 
more  that  God  can  do ;  that  when  every- 
thing goes  wrong  with  us,  and  we  are  ready 
to  sit  down  and  wait  for  ruin,  there  is  no 
help  for  us  in  God.  Too  often  we  pray  to 
a  God  whom  we  do  not  set  in  the  heavens, 
to  whom  we  do  not,  in  fact,  ascribe  as  much 
wisdom  and  power  as  we  do  to  men, 
whom  we  scarcely  trust  in  much  more  than 
in    ourselves,    else    we    would    not    be    found 

Footsteps-  Yl  Q 


GOD  THE  FATHER 

despairing   when  we    see    no    remedy  for   our 
ills  and  when  our  own  strength  is  exhausted. 


Prayer 

We  thank  Thee  that  Thy  greatness  does 
not  separate  Thee  from  Thy  creatures,  but 
makes  Thee  more  their  own.  Thou  hast  said 
that  we  glorify  Thee  when  we  call  upon 
Thee  in  the  day  of  trouble ;  and  we  believe 
that  all  our  trouble  is  known  to  Thee  and 
will  be  guided  by  Thee  to  issues  that  Thou 
wilt  bless.  Make  us  strong  in  faith,  believing 
that  Thou  art  with  us,  sufficient  for  all  our 
hourly  need.  Rebuke  our  fears — may  we 
feel  that  in  Thee  and  in  Thy  presence  is 
fulness  of  joy,  and  that  Thou  goest  with  us, 
caring  most  for  the  weakest,  who  can  least 
stand  alone. 


18 


SEVENTH    SUNDAY 

GOD    THE    SON 

"  The  Word   became  flesh   and  dwelt   among  us." — John 
i.  14. 

•'Thou,  0  Christ,  art  all  I  want, 
More  than  all  in  Thee  I  find." 

r  I  iHE  process  of  the  Incarnation  John  de- 
scribes very  simply.  The  Jews  were 
familiar  with  the  idea  of  God  dwelling  with 
His  people.  By  the  word  John  here  uses 
he  links  the  body  of  Christ  to  the  ancient 
dwelling  of  God  round  which  the  tents  of 
Israel  had  clustered.  God  now  dwelt  among 
men  in  the  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
tabernacle  was  human,  the  indwelling  Person 
was  Divine.  In  Christ  is  realised  the  actual 
presence  of  God  among  His  people,  the  actual 
entrance    into    and    personal    participation     in 

19 


GOD  THE  SON 

human    history   which    was  hinted  at  in    the 
tabernacle   and  the  temple. 

In  the  Incarnation,  then,  we  have  God's 
response  to  man's  craving  to  find,  to  see,  to 
know  Him.  To  suppose  that  God  might  make 
Himself  more  obvious,  more  distinctly  appa- 
rent to  us  than  He  has  done,  is  to  mistake 
what  God  is  and  how  we  can  know  Him. 
What  are  the  highest  attributes  of  Divinity, 
the  most  Divine  characteristics  of  God?  Are 
they  great  power,  a  dazzling  physical  glory 
that  overpowers  the  sense,  or  are  they 
infinite  goodness,  holiness  that  cannot  be 
tempted,  love  that  accommodates  itself  to  all 
the  needs  of  all  creatures  ?  Surely  the  latter, 
the  spiritual  and  moral,  qualities  are  the  more 
Divine.  Only  through  what  is  personal,  only 
through  what  is  like  ourselves,  only  through 
what  is  moral,  can  God  reveal  Himself  to  us. 
It  is  in  Christ  we  see  upon  our  own  earth, 
and  in  circumstances  we  can  examine  and 
understand,  goodness — goodness  tried  by  every 
test  conceivable,  goodness  triumphant.  This 
goodness,  though  in  human  forms  and  circum- 

20 


GOD  THE  SON 

stances,  is  yet  the  goodness  of  One  who 
conies  among  men  from  a  higher  sphere, 
teaching,  forgiving,  commanding,  assuring, 
saving,  as  One  sent  to  deal  with  men  rather 
than  springing  from  them.  If  this  is  not 
God,  what  is  God  ?  What  do  we  need  in 
God,  or  suppose  to  be  in  God,  which  we  have 
not  in   Christ  ? 

Prayer 

We  desire,  0  God,  to  glorify  Christ  as  Him 
by  Whom  Thou  hast  blessed  us.  Who  is  our 
only  and  all-sufficient  hope,  Who  has  made  a 
sacrifice  worthy  of  eternal  praise,  Who  has 
borne  the  weight  of  a  world's  woe,  and  Who 
has  been  in  this  world  the  Bearer  and  the 
Healer  of  its  misery,  the  Conqueror  of  sin,  and 
Who  is  now  exalted  at  Thy  right  hand,  the 
one  Saviour  to  whom  it  is  owing  that  we  are 
saved. 


21 


EIGHTH   SUNDAY 

GOD    THE    SON 

"  Himself  took  our  infirmities." — Matthew  viii.  17. 

"  When  He  lived  on  earth  abased, 
Friend  of  sinners  was  His  name ; 
Now  above  all  glory  raised, 
He  rejoices  in  the  same." 

/^UR  first  thought  of  God  must  ever  be 
^"^^  that  which  the  Incarnation  suggests  : 
that  the  God  with  whom  alone  and  in  all 
things  we  have  to  do  is  not  One  who  is 
alienated  from  us,  or  who  has  no  sympathy 
with  us,  or  who  is  absorbed  in  interests  very 
different  from  ours,  and  to  which  we  must  be 
sacrificed  ;  but  that  He  is  One  who  sacrifices 
Himself  for  us,  and  who  makes  all  things  but 
justice  and  right   bend   to   serve   us,    who   for- 

22 


GOD  THE  SON 

gives  our  misapprehensions,  our  coldness,  our 
unspeakable  folly,  and  makes  common  cause 
with  us  in  all  that  concerns  our  welfare. 
Still  with  Divine  patience  does  He  wait  till 
we  recognise  Him  as  our  Friend,  and  humbly- 
own  Him  as  our  God.  He  waits  till  we  learn 
that  to  be  God  is  not  to  be  a  mighty  King 
enthroned  above  all  the  assaults  of  His 
creatures,  but  that  to  be  God  is  to  have 
more  love  than  all  besides  ;  to  be  able  to 
make  greater  sacrifices  for  the  good  of  all  ; 
to  have  an  infinite  capacity  to  humble  Him- 
self, to  put  Himself  out  of  sight,  and  to  con- 
sider our  good.  This  is  the  God  we  have  in 
Christ  ;  our  Judge  becoming  our  atoning 
Victim,  our  God  becoming  our  Father,  the 
Infinite  One  coming  with  all  His  helpfulness 
into  the  most  intimate  relations  with  us ;  is 
this  not  a  God  to  whom  we  can  trust  our- 
selves and  whom  we  can  love  and  serve  ? 
If  this  is  the  real  nature  of  God,  if  to  be 
God  is  to  be  all  this  as  full  of  love  in  the 
future  as  He  has  shown  Himself  in  the  past, 
then   may  not  existence    yet    be    that    perfect 

23 


GOD   THE  SON 

joy  our  instincts  crave,  and  towards  which 
we  are  slowly  and  doubtfully  finding  our 
way  through  all  the  darkness,  and  strains 
and  shocks  that  are  needed  to  sift  what  is 
spiritual   in   us   from   what  is   unworthy  ? 


Prayer 

We  thank  Thee,  O  God,  for  the  solace,  and 
strength,  and  help  Thou  bringest  to  our 
hearts  by  giving  us  to  know  Thee  and  to 
lean  upon  Thee.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou 
hast  promised  to  be  with  us  through  our  life, 
sufficient  for  all  our  necessities,  able  to  bring 
us  through  all  temptation,  waiting  patiently 
till  we  recognise  Thy  goodness  and  learn  to 
love  Thee.  We  thank  Thee  for  Him  through 
whom  Thou  hast  revealed  Thyself,  and  we 
pray  that,  being  constrained  by  His  love,  we 
may  be  conformed  more  to  His  image. 


24 


NINTH   SUNDAY 

GOD  THE  SON 

"  It  is  finished." — John  xix.  30. 

**  O  Father,  Thou  art  my  eternity. 
Not  on  the  clasp  of  consciousness — on  Thee 
My  heart  depends." 

r  I  1HE  purpose  of  God  in  the  history  of  man 
was  accomplished  when  Jesus  breathed 
His  last  upon  the  cross.  The  cry  "  It  is 
finished "  was  not  the  mere  gasp  of  a  worn- 
out  life ;  it  was  not  the  cry  of  satisfaction 
with  which  a  career  of  pain  and  sorrow  is 
terminated ;  it  was  the  deliberate  utterance  of 
a  clear  consciousness  on  the  part  of  God's 
appointed  Revealer  that  now  all  had  been 
done  that  could  be  done  to  make  God  known 
to  men  and  to  identify  Him  with  men.  God's 
purpose   had   ever   been   one   and  indivisible — 

25 


GOD  THE  SON 

declared  to  men  in  various  ways,  a  hint  here, 
a  broad  light  there,  now  by  a  gleam  of  in- 
sight in  the  mind  of  a  prophet,  now  by  a 
deed  of  heroism  in  king  or  leader,  through 
rude  symbolic  contrivances  and  through  the 
tenderest  of  human  affections  and  the  highest 
human  thoughts.  God  had  been  making  men 
ever  more  and  more  sensible  that  His  one 
purpose  was  to  come  closer  and  closer  into 
fellowship  with  them,  and  to  draw  them  into 
a  perfect  harmony  with  Him.  Forgiveness 
and  deliverance  from  sin  were  provided  for 
them,  knowledge  of  God's  law  and  will,  that 
they  might  learn  to  know  and  to  serve  Him 
— all  these  were  secured  when  Jesus  cried,  "It 
is  finished." 

When  John  had  seen  and  pondered  the  words 
and  the  life  of  Jesus  all  his  ideas  of  the 
Father  were  altered.  He  learned  that  God  is 
love,  and  that  to  infinite  love  while  there  re- 
mains one  thing  to  give,  one  step  of  nearness  to 
the  loved  to  be  taken,  love  has  not  its  perfect 
expression.  It  came  upon  him  as  a  revela- 
tion that  God  was  really  in  the  world. 

26 


PRAYER 

O  God,  we  thank  Thee  for  Thy  word  of 
truth,  and  we  pray  Thee  to  enlarge  our 
thoughts  of  Thee  and  of  Thy  purpose.  We 
thank  thee  that  for  us  Thou  hast  a  purpose  of 
good,  that  for  us  there  is  a  Saviour  who  has 
loved  us,  and  given  Himself  for  us.  We  thank 
Thee  that  through  Christ  Jesus  we  have  for- 
giveness of  sins,  that  He  gave  Himself  a  sac- 
rifice for  the  sins  of  the  world,  and  that  our 
hope  rests  on  the  finished  work  of  our  Re- 
deemer. 


27 


tENTH   SUNDAY 

GOD  THE  SON 

"I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me."— John 
xii.  32. 

"Oh  love  of  God!  Oh  sin  of  man! 
In  this  dread  act  your  strength  is  tried." 

nnHAT  which  has  made  the  cross  the  most 
significant  of  earthly  symbols,  and  which 
has  invested  it  with  so  wonderful  a  power 
to  subdue  and  purify  the  heart,  is  not  the 
fact  that  it  involved  the  keenest  physical  pain, 
but  that  it  exhibits  Christ's  perfect  and  com- 
plete identification  with  sinful  men.  It  is  this 
that  humbles  us  and  brings  us  to  a  right 
mind  towards  God  and  towards  sin,  that  here 
we  see  the  innocent  Son  of  God  involved  in 
suffering  and  undergoing  a  shameful  death 
through     our    sin.      Who    shall    measure    the 

28 


GOD   THE  SON 

burden  Christ  bore  from  day  to  day  in  the 
midst  of  a  sinning  and  suffering  world  ? 
The  mere  sorrows  of  men  doubtless  affected 
Him  more  than  they  affect  the  most  tender- 
hearted of  men  ;  but  these  sorrows — poverty, 
failure,  sickness — would  pass  away,  and  would 
even  work  for  good,  and  so  might  well  be 
borne.  But  when  He  saw  them  day  by  day 
defeating  the  purpose  He  lived  to  accomplish, 
and  undoing  the  only  work  He  thought  worth 
doing — who  can  measure  the  burden  of  shame 
and  grief  He  had  to  bear  ? 

But  it  is  not  the  suffering  that  does  us  good 
and  brings  us  to  God,  but  the  love  which 
underlies  the  suffering.  The  suffering  con- 
vinces us  that  it  is  love  which  prompts  Christ 
in  all  His  life  and  death — a  love  we  may  con- 
fidently trust  to,  since  it  staggered  at  no  diffi- 
culty or  sacrifice  ;  a  love  which  aims  at  lifting 
and  helping  us  ;  a  love  that  embraces  us,  not 
seeking  to  accomplish  only  one  thing  for  us, 
but  necessarily,  because  it  is  love  for  us,  seek- 
ing our  good  in  all  things.  The  power  of 
earthly   love    we    know.       Let    it    not    enter 

29 


GOD  THE  SON 

our  thoughts  that  He  who  is  more  closely 
related  to  us  than  any,  and  who  will  far  less 
disclaim  this  relationship,  does  not  love  us  in 
practical  ways,  and  cannot  fit  us  by  His  loving 
care  for  all  that  His  holiness  requires. 


Prayer 

May  we  be  really  one  with  Christ,  not  in 
name  only,  but  in  love.  And  as  His  life  was 
shaped  by  His  love  for  us  and  union  with  us, 
so  may  ours  be  lived  in  conformity  with  His 
blessed  life.  May  we  be  enabled  to  believe 
that  we  can  be  as  truly  nourished  by  Christ's 
life  as  each  member  is  by  the  life  of  the  body, 
and  may  we  be  able  to  say,  "  The  life  which 
I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of 
the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  Him- 
self for  me." 


30 


ELEVENTH   SUNDAY 


GOD  THE  SON 


•'  Mary  was  standing  without  at  the  tomb  weeping." — John 
XX.  11. 

'*  A  broken  heart,  a  fount  of  tears, 
Ask,  and  they  will  not  be  denied." 


TN  the  story  of  Mary  at  the  sepulchre  we  have 
a  picture  of  a  real  and  profound  grief,  and 
therefore  of  a  real  and  profound  love.  And 
to  Mary  our  Lord  remembered  His  promise : 
"He  that  loveth  Me  shall  be  loved  of  My 
Father,  and  I  will  love  him  and  will  manifest 
Myself  to  him."  None  is  so  unable  as  He  to 
leave  any  who  love  Him  without  any  response 
to  their  expressions  of  affection.  He  could  not 
coldly  look  on  while  this  woman  was  eagerly 
seeking  Him  ;  and  it  is  as  impossible  that  He 
should     hide     Himself     now     from     any     who 

31 


GOD  THE  SON 

seek  Him  with  as  true  a  heart.  Sometimes 
it  would  seem  as  if  real  thirst  for  God  were 
not  at  once  allayed,  as  if  many  were  allowed 
to  spend  the  best  part  of  their  days  in  seeking ; 
but  this  does  not  invalidate  the  promise,  "He 
that  seeketh  findeth." 

Mary  standing  without  weeping  is  a  concrete 
representative  of  a  not  uncommon  state  of 
mind.  She  stands  wondering  why  she  was  ever 
so  foolish,  so  heartless,  as  to  leave  the  tomb 
at  all.  It  is  thus  that  those  who  have  been 
careless  about  maintaining  communion  with 
Christ  reproach  themselves  when  they  find  He 
is  gone.  The  ordinances,  the  prayers,  the  quiet 
hours  of  contemplation  that  once  were  filled 
with  Him  are  now  like  the  linen  clothes  and 
the  napkin,  empty,  cold,  pale  forms  of  His 
presence  that  make  His  absence  all  the  more 
painful.  And  yet  this  self-reproach  is  itself  a 
seeking  to  which  He  will  respond.  To  mourn 
His  absence  is  to  desire  and  to  invite  His 
presence,  and  to  invite  His  presence  is  to 
secure  it. 


32 


PRAYER 

Deliver  us,  O  God,  from  all  that  makes  us 
shun  Thy  presence,  and  clear,  heart-cleansing 
dealing  with  Thee.  Maintain  upon  our  spirits 
we  beseech  Thee,  a  solemnising  and  encourag- 
ing sense  of  Thy  nearness.  Thou  knowest 
how  often  we  have  deceived  ourselves  with 
forms,  how  we  have  passed  through  the 
richest  spiritual  provision  and  the  most  gracious 
services  without  profit.  Settle  in  our  souls 
a  steady  belief  of  all  Thy  love  to  sinners,  and 
an  affectionate  reliance  on  the  merit  and 
mediation  of  Thy  crucified  Son  and  of  our 
being  accepted  in  Him. 


Footsteps.  33 


TWELFTH    SUNDAY 


GOD    THE   SON 


"  He  appeared  first  to  Mary  Magdalene,  out  of  whom  He  had 
cast  seven  devils." — Mark  xvi.  9. 

"Drop  Thy  w^arm  blood  upon  my  heart, 
And  melt  me  by  Thy  dying  grace." 


r  I  iHE  Evangelist  Mark  means  apparently  to 
suggest  that  those  who  have  most  need 
of  encouragement  from  Christ  are  surest  to 
get  it.  The  sense  of  need  is  what  always 
effectually  appeals  to  Him.  The  soul  that 
truly  recognises  the  value  and  longs  for  the 
fellowship  and  possession  of  Christ's  purity, 
devotion  to  God,  superiority  to  worldly  aims 
and  interests,  always  wins  His  regard.  When 
a  man  prays  for  these  things,  not  with  his  lips 
only,  but  with  his  life's  effort  and  his  heart's 
craving,  his  prayer  is  answered. 

34 


GOD  THE   SON 

For  Christ  rose,  not  that  He  might  bring 
ecstasy  to  Mary  alone,  but  that  He  might 
fill  all  things  with  His  presence  and  His 
fulness,  and  that  our  joy  also  may  be  full. 
Has  He  not  called  us  also  by  name?  Do  we 
envy  Mary  her  few  minutes  in  the  garden? 
As  truly  as  by  the  audible  utterance  of  our 
name  does  Christ  now  invite  us  to  the  perfect 
joy  there  is  in  His  friendship,  so  truly  as  if 
our  name  alone  filled  His  lips,  our  wants 
alone  occupied  His  heart.  Let  us  not  miss 
true  personal  intercourse  with  Christ.  Let 
nothing  cheat  us  of  this  supreme  joy  and  life 
of  the  soul.  Let  us  not  slothfully  or  shyly 
say,  "  I  can  never  be  on  such  terms  of  intimacy 
with  Christ — I  who  am  so  unlike  Him,  so  full 
of  desires  He  cannot  gratify,  so  unable  to 
keep  a  pure  and  elevated  purpose  steadfastly 
in  my  mind."  Mary  was  once  trodden  under 
foot  of  evil,  a  wreck  in  whom  none  but  Christ 
saw  any  place  for  hope.  It  is  what  is  in  Him 
that  is  powerful.  He  has  won  and  maintains 
His  supremacy  by  love,  teaching  all  to  love 
Him,     subduing     to     devotedness    the    hardest 

35 


GOD  THE  SON 

heart — not  by  a  remote  exhibition  of  cold, 
unemotional  perfection,  but  by  the  persistence 
and  depth  of  His  warm  individual  love. 


Prayer 

O  Lord,  we  desire  to  thank  Thee  for  the 
glad  and  hopeful  thoughts  with  which  we 
may  come  into  Thy  presence,  for  the  change 
which  has  been  wrought  in  our  life  by  the 
coming  of  Christ,  for  the  perfect  life  He  sets 
before  us,  and  the  lifting  up  of  our  thoughts 
to  Thee.  When  we  begin  to  wonder  if  for  us 
there  is  any  real  fellowship  with  Thee,  any 
true  possibility  of  our  finding  joy  in  holiness 
and  self-sacrifice,  enable  us  to  believe  in  the 
reality  and  efficiency  of  Christ's  salvation,  and 
may  we  be  willing  to  open  our  whole  nature 
to  His  love. 


36 


THIRTEENTH   SUNDAY 

GOD   THE   SON 

"  Touch  Me  not,  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  My  Father." — 
John  xx.  17. 

"  Help  us  in  this  time  of  waiting 
In  Thy  strength  to  follow  Thee." 

/"CHRIST  must  ascend  to  the  Father,  and 
^"'^  those  who  love  Him  on  earth  must  learn 
to  live  without  the  physical  appearance,  the 
actual  seeing,  touching,  hearing  of  the  well- 
known  Master.  There  must  be  no  more  kissing 
of  His  feet,  but  homage  of  a  sterner,  deeper 
sort;  there  must  be  no  more  sitting  at  table 
with  Him,  and  filling  the  mind  with  His  words, 
until  they  sit  down  with  Him  in  His  Father's 
presence.  Meanwhile  His  friends  must  walk 
by  faith,  not  by  sight.  Thus  only  can  the 
human   spirit  freely   grow ;   thus   only  can   its 

37 


GOD  THE  SON 

capacities  for  self -development  and  for  choosing 
and  fulfilling  its  own  destiny  be  matured. 

And  if  these  words  of  Jesus  seemed  at  first 
chilling  and  repelling,  they  were  followed  by 
words  of  unmistakable  affection :  "  Go  to  My 
brothers,  and  say  unto  them,  I  ascend  unto 
My  Father  and  your  Father,  and  to  My  God 
and  your  God."  This  is  the  message  of  the 
risen  Lord  to  men.  He  has  become  the  link 
between  us  and  all  that  is  highest  and  best. 
We  know  that  He  has  overcome  all  evil  and 
left  it  behind.  We  know  that  Christ  must 
ascend  to  the  highest,  and  yet  we  know  also 
that  He  will  not  enter  where  we  cannot 
follow.  We  know  that  His  love  binds  Him 
to  us  as  strongly  as  His  rights  carry  Him  to 
God.  We  can  as  little  believe  that  He  will 
abandon  us  and  leave  us  out  of  His  eternal 
enjoyment,  as  we  can  believe  that  God  would 
refuse  to  own  Him  as  Son.  And  it  is  this 
which  Christ  puts  in  the  forefront  of  His 
message  as  risen  and  ascending :  "I  ascend 
unto  My  Father  and  your  Father."  The  joy 
that   awaits   Me    with    God    awaits    you    also ; 

38 


GOD  THE  SON 

the  power  I  go  to  exercise  is  the  power  of 
your  Father.  The  holiness,  the  power,  the 
victory,  I  have  achieved  and  now  enjoy  are 
yours ;  I  am  your  Brother :  what  I  claim,  I 
claim  for  you. 

Prayer 

We  desire  to  join  ourselves  to  that  great 
company  who  joyfully  commemorate  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  and  to  feel  something  of 
the  gladness  and  triumph  with  which  His 
first  disciples  recognised  that  He  had  con- 
quered death.  Enable  us  to  believe  surely 
that  this  had  a  place  among  the  realities  of 
time.  And  may  we  never  forget  or  lose  sight 
of  what  we  have  in  Christ,  but  may  we  be 
brought  within  the  influence  of  that  holy 
risen  life,  and  accept  the  heavenly  calling  where- 
with we  are  called. 


39 


FOURTEENTH   SUNDAY 


GOD  THE  SON 


"  What  shall  I  do  with  Jesus  which  is  called  Christ  ?  " — 
Matthew  xxvii.  22. 

"  I  bore  with  thee,  thy  hardness,  coldness,  slights, 
For  three  and  thirty  years." 

r  I IHE  presentation  of  Christ  to  men  now 
divides  them  into  two  classes  as  at  the 
first.  There  are  always  those  who  accept  and 
those  who  reject  Him.  His  contemporaries 
showed,  for  the  most  part,  a  complete 
ignorance  of  what  might  be  expected  of  God, 
a  native  inability  to  understand  spiritual 
greatness,  and  to  relish  it  when  presented  to 
them.  The  very  presentation  to  men  of  the 
possibility  of  becoming  perfectly  pure  reveals 
what  at  heart  they  are.  By  the  judgment 
each  man  passes  on  Christ  he  passes  judgment 
on  himself. 

40 


GOD  THE   SON 

Let  us  stir  ourselves  to  a  clearer  decision 
by  remembering  that  He  is  presented  to  us 
as  to  His  contemporaries.  Time  was  when 
any  one  going  into  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth 
would  have  seen  Him,  and  might  have  spoken 
with  Him.  But  the  particular  thirty  years 
during  which  this  manifestation  of  God  on 
earth  lasted  makes  no  material  difference  to 
the  thing  itself.  The  Incarnation  was  to  be 
some  time,  and  it  is  as  real  having  occurred 
then  as  if  it  were  occurring  now.  It  occurred 
in  its  fit  time ;  but  its  bearing  on  us  is  not 
dependent  on  the  time  of  its  occurrence.  If 
it  had  been  accomplished  in  our  day,  what 
should  we  have  thought  of  it?  Would  it 
have  been  nothing  to  us  to  see  God,  to  hear 
Him,  perhaps  to  have  had  His  eye  turned 
upon  us  with  personal  observation,  with  pity, 
with  remonstrance  ?  Would  it  have  been 
nothing  to  us  to  see  Him  taking  the  sinner's 
place,  scourged,  mocked,  crucified  ?  And  are 
we  to  suffer  the  mere  fact  of  Christ's  being 
incarnate  in  a  past  age  and  not  in  our 
own  to   alter  our  attitude  towards    Him,   and 

41 


GOD  THE   SON 

blind  us  to  the  reality?  Of  more  importance 
than  anything  that  is  now  happening  in  our 
own  life  is  this  Incarnation  of  the  only- 
begotten  of  the  Father. 


Prayer 

We  thank  Thee  that  in  order  to  raise  us 
out  of  this  our  lost  estate  Thy  Son  should 
have  stooped  down  and  become  partaker  of 
our  sorrow  and  bearer  of  our  sins ;  should 
have  become  one  of  us,  connecting  Himself 
with  us,  not  for  a  little  while  only,  but 
eternally,  not  to  bring  us  a  little  on  our 
way  and  leave  us,  but  having  loved  us  He 
loves  us  to  the  end.  May  we  see  with  in- 
creasing clearness  the  significance  of  Christ's 
life  and  death,  and  may  there  grow  up 
between  us  and  Him  a  confidence  and  a 
friendship  which  nothing  can  destroy. 


42 


FIFTEENTH    SUNDAY 

GOD   THE   SON 

Christ's  Sacrifice  and  Ours 


"  Nought  can  I  bring,  dear  Lord,  for  all  I  owe, 
Yet  let  my  full  heart  what  it  can  bestow ; 
Like  ointment  sweet,  let  my  devotion  prove. 
Forgiven  greatly,  how  I  greatly  love." 


"TTN  the  sin-offering  the  victim  was  the 
sinner's  substitute,  suffering  what  the 
sinner  deserved,  and  suffering  it  in  order 
that  the  sinner  might  escape.  In  the  burnt- 
offering  the  victim  was  the  sinner's  repre- 
sentative, expressing  what  the  offerer  himself 
inwardly  felt  and  did.  The  burnt-offering 
was  presented  to  God,  not  that  the  sinner 
might  escape  punishment,  but  that  the  hearty 
self-devotement   of   the   man   to   God  might  be 

43 


GOD  THE  SON 

expressed.  Now,  it  is  of  prime  importance  to 
observe  that  the  sacrifice  of  our  Lord  compre- 
hends both  these  offerings,  which  were  used 
by  God  to  symbolise  its  fulness,  and,  therefore, 
that  our  Lord  Himself  is  both  our  Substitute 
and  our  Representative;  in  other  words,  there 
is  embraced  in  His  sacrifice  something  which 
He  has  done  for  us  in  order  that  we  may  be 
saved  the  doing  of  it,  and  something  which 
He  has  done  in  order  that  we  may  the  better 
do  it.  What  He  did  as  our  Substitute  we 
need  not  attempt  to  do  over  again ;  what  He 
did  as  our  Representative  we  must  ceaselessly 
aim  at.  He  is  our  sin-offering,  by  whose 
blood  we  are  cleansed  from  guilt  and  accepted 
as  God's  children  and  people.  He  is  also  our 
burnt-offering,  in  whose  sacrifice  we  recognise 
the  ideal  after  which  we  strive,  until  by  the 
power  of  His  Spirit  our  sacrifice  is  also 
perfect.    To  disconnect  the  two  is  to  lose  both. 


44 


PRAYER 

We  thank  Thee  for  forgiveness,  that  by  a 
word,  for  the  asking,  without  toil,  without 
penance  on  our  part,  we  can  be  forgiven. 
We  are  ashamed  when  we  compare  the  love 
we  bear  to  Christ  with  the  reasons  there  are 
for  loving  Him.  We  have  forgotten  that 
indeed  He  is  our  hope,  that  without  Him  it 
had  been  better  for  us  never  to  have  been. 
O  Lord,  help  us  out  of  our  deadness.  Give  us 
sympathy  with,  and  a  deep,  lasting,  and 
fruitful  gratitude  to  our  Redeemer.  Let  not 
the  dreams  or  realities  of  life  crowd  out  of 
our  hearts  His  image  in  all  its  fulness  of 
grace,  but  may  it  at  all  times  stand  before  us 
till  shame  deepens  into  repentance,  and  re- 
pentance transforms  us  into  His  image. 


45 


SIXTEENTH    SUNDAY 

GOD  THE   SON 

How  WE  MAY  Become  Sons 


"The  Work  of  God."— John  vi.  29. 

"  God  hath   sent   forth   the    Spirit   of    His   Son  into  our 
hearts." — Galatians  iv.  6, 


TT    was    through    the     human     will    o£    the 
Lord  that   the   Divine  will  of  the   Eternal 
Son  uniformly  worked  and  used  the   whole   of 
His  human  nature. 

It  is  in  this  perfect  Sonship  of  Christ  we 
first  learn  what  a  son  should  be.  It  is  by  His 
perfect  loyalty  to  the  Father's  will,  by  His 
uniform  adoption  of  it  as  the  best,  the  only 
thing  He  can  do,  that  we  begin  to  under- 
stand our  connection  with  God,  and  to 
recognise     that    in     His     will     alon       is     our 

46 


GOD   THE   SON 

blessedness.  Naturally,  we  resent  the  rule  of 
any  will  but  our  own  ;  we  have  not  by 
nature  such  love  for  God  as  would  put  His 
will  first.  To  our  reason  it  becomes  manifest 
that  there  is  nothing  higher  or  happier  for 
us  :  we  see  that  there  is  nothing  more 
elevating,  nothing  more  essential  to  a  hopeful 
life,  than  that  we  make  God's  purposes  in  the 
world  our  own,  and  do  that  very  thing  which 
He  sees  to  be  worth  doing  and  which  He 
desires  to  do.  Yet  we  find  that  the  adoption 
of  this  filial  attitude,  natural,  rational,  and 
inviting  as  it  seems,  is  just  the  most  difficult 
of  all  difficulties — is,  indeed,  the  battle  of  life. 
Who  among  us  can  say  that  we  do  nothing 
of  ourselves,  nothing  at  our  own  instance, 
that  our  life  is  entirely  at  God's  disposal  ? 

To  this  filial  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
Son  the  Father  responds  :  "  The  Father  loveth 
the  Son  and  showeth  Him  all  things  that 
Himself  doeth."  If  we  ask  how  Jesus  saw 
the  Father's  works,  the  answer  must  be  that 
it  is  by  inward  sympathy  the  Son  appre- 
hends  what    the    Father    wills.      By   His    own 

47 


GOD  THE   SON 

purity,  love,  and  goodness  He  knew  what  the 
Father's  goodness  willed.  We  in  our  measure 
can  see  what  God  is  doing  in  the  world,  and 
can  forward  God's  work. 


Prayer 

We  thank  Thee  that  Jesus  Christ  has 
come  to  show  us  that  it  is  Eternal  Life  to 
know  the  Father's  heart  ;  and  to  lift  us  up 
into  the  fellowship  of  His  own  filial  know- 
ledge of  God  and  trust  in  God  ;  to  show  us 
that  His  eternal  purpose  is  to  carry  on  the 
revelation  of  the  Father  through  all  the  ages 
and  in  all  places,  and  that  He  calls  us  to 
pray  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  purpose, 
and  to  work  for  it. 


48 


SEVENTEENTH   SUNDAY 

GOD  THE   HOLY   SPIRIT 

"  Another  Comforter." — John  xiv.  16. 

"  Breathe  on  me,  Breath  of  God 
Till  I  am  wholly  Thine." 

TN  all  ages,  both  before  and  after  Christ 
it  has  been  the  clear  conviction  of  devout 
souls  that  God  sought  them  much  more 
ardently  and  persistently  than  they  sought 
God.  The  truth  which  shines  most  conspicu- 
ously in  the  experience  of  all  the  saved  is 
that  they  were  saved  by  God  and  not  by 
themselves.  If  human  experience  is  to  be 
trusted  at  all,  if  it  in  any  case  reflects  the 
substantial  verities  of  the  sx)iritual  world, 
then  we  may  hold  it  as  proved  in  the  uniform 
experience    of    men    that    God   somehow  com- 

Footstepa  ^Q  S 


GOD  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

municated  to  them  a  living  energy,  and  not 
only  taught  them  what  to  do,  but  gave  them 
strength  to  do  it.  If  under  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation we  are  left  to  make  the  best  we 
can  for  ourselves  of  the  truth  taught  by 
Christ,  and  of  the  example  He  set  us  in  His 
life  and  death,  then  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion fails  to  supply  us  with  that  very  thing 
which  is  sought  through  all  religions — actual 
access  to  a  living  source  of  spiritual  strength. 
I  believe  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  estab- 
lished by  stronger  evidence  than  exists  for 
any  other  historical  fact ;  but  apart  altogether 
from  the  historical  evidence,  the  entire  experi- 
ence of  God's  people  goes  to  show  that  Christ, 
as  the  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  as  the 
Representative  of  God  and  the  Channel  of  His 
influence  upon  us,  must  be  now  alive,  and 
must  be  in  a  position  to  exert  a  personal 
care  and  a  personal  influence,  and  to  yield  a 
present  and  inward  assistance.  Were  it  other- 
wise, we  should  be  left  without  a  Saviour,  to 
struggle  against  the  enemies  of  the  soul  in 
our  own  strength,  and   this  would  be   a   com- 

50 


GOD  THE  HOLY   SPIRIT 

plete  reversal  of  the  experience  of  all  those 
who  in  past  ages  have  been  engaged  in  the 
same  strife  and  have  been  victorious. 


Prayer 

Give  us  a  keener  sense  of  our  oneness  with 
Christ,  that  our  safety  depends  on  a  living 
personal  union  with  Him,  that  because  He 
lives  we  shall  live  also.  May  we  cordially 
believe  that  we  can  find  more  help  in  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  than  in  the  bodily 
presence  of  Christ.  We  thank  Thee  for  the 
assurance  this  brings  us  that  one  day  we  shall 
be  holy  as  Thou  art  holy.  May  we  strive 
more  earnestly  after  perfect  conformity  to 
Thy  will,  more  devotion  to  Thy  purposes, 
more  humble  acceptance  of  Thy  love. 


51 


EIGHTEENTH    SUNDAY 

GOD   THE   HOLY    SPIRIT 

"  He  will  convince  the  world  of  sin." — John  vi.  8. 

"  Sure  never  till  my  latest  breath  can  I  forget  that  look, 
He  fixed  His   dying  eyes  on   me,  though  not  a  word  He 
spoke." 

r  I  iHERE  is  no  consideration  from  which  the 
-^  deceitfulness  of  sin  will  not  escape,  nor 
any  fear  which  the  recklessness  of  sin  will  not 
brave,  nor  any  authority  which  self-will  cannot 
override  but  only  this :  Christ  has  died  for 
me,  to  save  me  from  my  sin,  and  I  am  sin- 
ning still,  not  regarding  His  blood,  not  meet- 
ing His  purpose.  In  presence  of  the  death 
of  Christ  we  cannot  any  longer  make  a  mock 
of  sin  or  think  lightly  of  it,  as  if  it  were  on 
our  own  responsibility  and  at  our  own  risk 
we  sinned. 

52 


GOD  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 

But  not  only  does  the  death  of  Christ 
exhibit  the  intricate  connections  of  our  sin 
with  other  persons  and  the  grievous  con- 
sequences of  sin  in  general,  but  also  it 
exhibits  the  enormity  of  this  particular  sin  of 
rejecting  Christ.  "  He  will  convince  the  world 
of  sin,  because  they  believed  not  on  Me,"  It 
was  this  sin  in  point  of  fact  which  cut  to  the 
heart  the  crowd  at  Jerusalem  first  addressed 
by  Peter.  Peter  had  nothing  to  say  of  their 
looseness  of  life,  of  their  worldliness,  of  their 
covetousness ;  he  did  not  go  into  particulars 
of  conduct  calculated  to  bring  a  blush  to 
their  cheeks ;  he  took  up  but  one  point,  and 
by  a  few  convincing  remarks  showed  them 
the  enormity  of  crucifying  the  Lord  of  Glory. 
The  lips  which  a  few  days  before  had  cried 
out,  "  Crucify  Him,  crucify  Him  ! "  now  cried, 
"Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do?"  how 
escape  from  the  crushing  condemnation  of 
mistaking  God's  image  for  a  criminal?  In 
that  hour  Christ's  words  were  fulfilled;  they 
were  convinced  of  sin  because  they  believed 
not  on  Him. 

53 


PRAYER 

O  God,  Thou  hast  said  that  if  we  confess 
our  sins  Thou  art  faithful  and  just  to  forgive 
us  our  sins  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  un- 
righteousness. Help  us  therefore  now  to  con- 
fess sincerely  and  utterly  as  those  who  expect 
pardon  and  not  punishment.  We  acknow- 
ledge that  we  have  lived  as  if  we  had  no  God, 
believing  little,  expecting  little,  loving  little, 
obeying  little.  Especially  we  have  not  believed 
that  our  natures  could  be  changed,  and  have 
not  counted  that  there  was  much  concern 
with  Thee  whether  we  continued  in  sin  or 
accepted  Thy  salvation.  O  God  of  our  salva- 
tion, for  the  glory  of  Thy  name  deliver  us 
and  purge  away  our  sins  for  Thy  name's 
sake. 


54 


NINETEENTH    SUNDAY 

GOD  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 

"  If  I  go  not  away  the  Comforter  will  not  come." — John 
xvi,  7. 

"  How  hard  to  think  through  cold  and  dark  and  dearth, 
That  Thou  art  nearer  now  than  when  eye-seen  on  earth.' 

TNEVITABLY  the  disciples  must  have 
argued  that,  if  the  words  and  works  of 
Jesus  Himself  had  not  broken  down  the  un- 
belief of  the  world,  it  was  not  likely  that 
anything  which  they  could  say  or  do  would 
have  that  effect.  If  the  impressive  presence 
of  Christ  Himself  had  not  attracted  and  con- 
vinced all  men,  how  was  it  possible  that 
mere  telling  about  what  He  had  said,  and 
done,  and  been,  would  convince  them  ?  He 
had  reminded  them  how  little  effect  His  own 
works    and    words    had    had.     "If  I   had    not 

55 


GOD  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 

come  and  spoken  unto  them  they  had  not 
had  sin  ...  if  I  had  not  done  among  them 
the  works  which  none  other  did  .  .  .  but  now 
they  have  both  seen  and  hated  both  Me  and 
My  Father."  What  power,  then,  could  break 
down  this  obstinate  unbelief? 

Our  Lord  assures  them  that  together  with 
their  witness-bearing  there  will  be  an  all- 
powerful  Witness — "  the  Spirit  of  Truth,"  one 
who  could  find  access  to  the  hearts  and  minds 
to  which  they  addressed  themselves  and  carry 
truth  home  to  conviction.  It  was  on  this 
account  that  it  was  "expedient"  that  their 
Lord  should  depart,  and  that  His  visible 
presence  should  be  superseded  by  the  presence 
of  the  Spirit.  It  was  necessary  that  His 
death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  to  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father  should  take  place,  in 
order  that  His  supremacy  might  be  secured. 
And  in  order  that  He  might  be  everywhere 
and  inwardly  present  with  men,  it  was 
necessary  that  He  should  be  visible  nowhere 
on  earth.  The  inward  spiritual  presence 
depended  on   the  bodily   absence. 

56 


PRAYER 

We  recognise  Thy  goodness  in  making  this 
the  promise  which  should  satisfy  all  expecta- 
tion, even  that  Thou  shouldst  dwell  with 
men  and  make  us  Thy  people.  Help  us  to 
appreciate  the  full  joy  of  a  state  in  which 
we  are  brought  into  closest  contact  with 
Thee.  May  we  feel  that  no  higher,  truer  joy 
could  be  offered,  and  may  we  be  strengthened 
to  choose  this  as  that  which  we  ourselves 
most  earnestly  desire. 


57 


TWENTIETH   SUNDAY 

GOD  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

"Praying  in  the  Spirit." — Ephesians  vi.  16. 

"  Flesh  and  heart  would  faint  and  faU, 
But  there  stands  within  the  veil 
One  who  ever  doth  prevail." 

T)RAYING  "in  Christ's  name"  is  not  so 
easy  an  achievement  as  we  are  apt  to 
think.  Fraying  in  Christ's  name  means,  no 
doubt,  that  we  go  to  God,  not  in  our  own 
name,  but  in  His.  He  has  given  us  power 
to  use  His  name,  as  when  we  send  a  mes- 
senger we  bid  him  use  our  name. 

But  praying  in  Christ's  name  means  more 
than  this.  It  means  that  we  pray  for  such 
things  as  will  promote  Christ's  kingdom. 
When   we   do    anything   in    another's   name   it 

58 


GOD  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 

is  for  Him  we  do  it.  When  we  take  posses- 
sion of  a  property  or  a  legacy  in  the  name 
of  some  society,  it  is  not  for  our  own  private 
advantage,  but  for  the  society  we  take  pos- 
session. Yet  how  constantly  do  we  overlook 
this  obvious  condition  of  acceptable  prayer ! 
To  pray  in  Christ's  name  is  to  seek  what 
He  seeks,  to  ask  aid  in  promoting  what  He 
has  at  heart.  To  come  in  Christ's  name  and 
plead  selfish  and  worldly  aims  is  absurd.  To 
pray  in  Christ's  name  is  to  pray  in  the  spirit 
in  which  He  Himself  prayed  and  for  objects 
He  desires.  When  we  measure  our  prayers 
by  this  rule  we  cease  to  wonder  that  so  few 
seem  to  be  answered.  Is  God  to  answer 
prayers  that  positively  lead  men  away  from 
Him  ?  Is  He  to  build  them  up  in  the  presump- 
tion that  happiness  can  be  found  in  the 
pursuit  of  selfish  objects  and  worldly  comfort  ? 
It  is  when  a  man  stands,  as  these  disciples 
stood,  detached  from  worldly  hopes  and  find- 
ing all  in  Christ,  so  clearly  apprehending  the 
sweep  and  benignity  of  Christ's  will  as  to  see 
that    it    comprehends    all   good    to    man,  and 

59 


GOD  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

that  life  can  serve  no  purpose  if  it  do  not 
help  to  fulfil  that  will — it  is  then  a  man  prays 
with  assurance  and  finds  his  prayer  answered. 


Prayer 

Lord,  teach  us  to  pray — teach  us  to  love 
the  thing  that  Thou  commandest  and  to 
desire  that  which  Thou  dost  promise.  Give 
us  that  gift  of  faith  by  which  alone  we  can 
have  the  vision  of  Jesus  Christ  or  can  live 
to  Thee.  Give  us  the  beginning  of  all  true 
prayer,  a  sincere  willingness  to  be  made  holy, 
to  be  loosed  from  sin.  And  grant  us  the  aid 
of  Thy  Holy  Spirit  to  help  our  infirmities 
and  to  lead  us  into  all  truth,  giving  us  clearer 
views,  deeper  convictions,  more  steadfast  pur- 
poses. 


60 


TWENTY-FIRST   SUNDAY 

THIRSTING  FOR  GOD 

"  If  any  man  thirst." — John  vii.  87. 

"  Heavenly  springs  shall  there  restore  thee 
Fresh  from  God's  exhaustless  tides." 

r  I  10  know  and  appreciate  the  things  which 
are  freely  given  to  us  of  God  a  man 
must  have  the  Spirit  of  God.  For  God's 
gifts  are  spiritual ;  they  attach  to  character, 
to  what  is  eternally  ours.  They  cannot  be 
received  by  those  who  refuse  the  severity 
of  God's  training.  The  path  to  these  eternal, 
all-satisfying  joys  may  be  hard ;  Christ's 
path  was  not  easy,  and  they  who  follow  Him 
must  in  one  form  or  other  have  their  faith 
in  the  unseen  tested.  They  must  really,  and 
not    only    in  word,   pass  from    dependence   on 

61 


THIRSTING  FOR  GOD 

this  present  world  to  dependence  on  God ; 
they  must  somehow  come  to  believe  that 
underneath  and  in  all  we  here  see  and  ex- 
perience lies  God's  unalterable,  unmingled 
love,  that  ultimately  it  is  this  they  have  to 
do  with,  this  that  explains  all. 

How  soon  do  men  think  they  have  ex- 
hausted the  one  inexhaustible,  the  love  and 
resources  of  God !  how  ready  are  they  to 
conclude  that  for  them  existence  is  a  failure 
and  can  yield  no  perfect  joy,  while  as  yet 
they  know  as  little  of  the  things  God  has 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him  as  the 
new-born  babe  knows  of  the  life  and  ex- 
periences that  lie  before  it.  You  have 
but  touched  the  hem  of  His  garment;  what 
must  it  be  to  be  clasped  to  His  heart  ?  Happy 
they  to  whom  the  darkness  of  this  world 
reveals  the  boundless  distances  of  the  starry 
heavens,  and  who  find  that  the  blows  which 
have  shattered  their  earthly  happiness  have 
merely  broken  the  shell  which  confined  their 
true  life  and  have  given  them  entrance  into 
a  world  infinite,  eternal. 

62 


PRAYER 

Give  us  sobriety   of  hope,  a  hope   that  does 
not  expect   great  things  from  this  world,   but 
is  fixed  on  those  things  which  Thou  hast  pro- 
mised; and  as   some  of   these   are  yet  unseen, 
within   the   veil,   where    our  life    is    hid   with 
Christ    in    God,   do     Thou,  Lord,  enliven     our 
faith,   that  our  hope   also   may  live  and  keep 
us  above  the  world.     May  this  hope  be  as  the 
anchor    of  our  souls,   not    puffing    us   up  with 
vain  and  enthusiastic  imaginings,  but  enabling 
us    to    meet   steadily  and   ride   through   those 
trials  Thou  hast  appointed   for  us,  that  tribu- 
lation  through   which   Thy  kingdom   of  peace 
and  joy    is  to  be  entered.     May  our  hope   be 
so    surely    fixed    on   Thy    promises,    and    may 
we  so  drink  into  the   joy  of   communion  with 
Thee,  that   we  shall   be   fortified  ahke  against 
the  allurements  and  the   threatenings    of   this 
world. 


63 


TWENTY-SECOND   SUNDAY 

SUFFICIENCY  OF  GRACE  IN    GOD 

"  My  grace  is  sufficient." — 2  Corinthians  xii.  9. 
"  Ours  is  such  a  full  salvation." 

~T~  EARNING  as  we  do  to  take  our  own 
measure,  we  become  convinced  of  our 
littleness,  of  our  incapacity  to  shine,  our 
inability  to  remove  ignorance,  our  helpless- 
ness in  presence  of  surrounding  and  oppres- 
sive darkness. 

When  we  become  profoundly  convinced  of 
our  blundering  methods,  of  our  beating  the 
air,  of  the  feeble  and  inefficient  assaults  we 
make  upon  the  dense  masses  of  evil  around  us, 
when  we  are  saddened  by  our  own  incompe- 
tence and  futility,  there  are  reasonable  grounds 

64 


SUFFICIENCY  OF  GRACE  IN  GOD 

which  should  recall  us  to  more  hopeful 
thoughts.  For  all  the  work  required  of  us 
there  is  an  unfailing  supply  of  grace.  We 
are  not  called  upon  to  create  a  holy  spirit  for 
ourselves.  Holiness  sufficient  for  all  moral 
beings  exists  in  God.  There  is  that  in  Him 
which  can  sustain  in  goodness  the  spirit  of 
each.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  equal  to  all  demands 
that  can  be  made  upon  Him.  The  Holy  Spirit 
is  God  ;  so  that  as  there  is  in  God  life  enough 
for  all  creatures,  a  strength  sufficient  to  main- 
tain in  being  all  that  is,  so  there  is  in  God 
a  holiness  sufficient  for  the  need  of  all. 
There  is  strength  and  grace  enough  in  God 
to  carry  through  the  whole  work  that  this 
world  requires.  In  God  there  is  patience,  love, 
wisdom,  sacrifice — in  a  word,  goodness  enough 
for  the  overcoming  of  aU  evil.  And  this 
goodness  is  communicable.  It  is  communic- 
able and  it  is  through  Christ  it  is  communi- 
cated. Each  man  receives  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  and  is  enabled  to  live  as  Christ  lived 
in  the  service  of  men  and  to  the  glory  of  God, 
in   so  far  as    he    submits    himself   to    Christ's 

Footsteps.  gr^  P 


SUFFICIENCY  OF  GRACE  IN  GOD 

rule  and  is  truly  reconciled  to  God  in  Christ, 
when  he  recognises  Christ  as  King  and 
Priest,  and  keeps  himself  in  real  and  spiritual 
connection  with  Him. 


Prayer 

Lord,  we  are  very  different  from  what  we 
might  have  been  if  we  had  taken  Thee  at 
Thy  word,  and  believed  that  Thou  art  able 
to  make  us  partakers  of  Thy  fulness,  and 
fellow-workers  with  Thee.  We  ask  Thee  for 
a  simpler  faith — a  faith  which  makes  Thy 
presence  and  Thy  spirit  the  most  real  of  all 
realities.  Thou,  the  Wonderful,  the  Counsellor, 
the  Mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father,  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  hast  promised  that  Thou 
wilt  be  with  us  in  our  poverty,  our  frailty, 
our  emptiness.  Therefore  we  will  hope  in 
Thee. 


66 


TWENTY-THIRD    SUNDAY 


STRENGTH  IN  WEAKNESS 


"  This  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your  sanctification." — 
1  Thessalonians  iv.  3. 

"  According  to  the  eternal  purpose  which  He  purposed  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." — Ephesians  iii.  11. 


"IV  /TANY  men  look  with  longing  to  what  is 
eternal  and  spiritual  and  resolve  to  win 
this  inheritance.  And  this  resolve  they  often 
make  as  if  its  accomplishment  depended  solely 
on  their  own  endurance.  They  act  as  if  by 
taking  advantage  of  God's  promises,  and  by 
passing  through  certain  states  of  mind  and 
prescribed  duties,  they  could,  irrespective  of 
God's  present  attitude  towards  them  and  con- 
stant love,  win  eternal  happiness.  In  the  life 
of  such  persons  there  must  therefore  come  a 
time  when  their  own  spiritual  energy  seems  all 

67 


STRENGTH  IN  WEAKNESS 

to  collapse  in  that  painful  and  utter  way  in 
which,  when  the  body  is  exhausted,  the  muscles 
are  suddenly  found  to  be  cramped  and  heavy 
and  no  longer  responsive  to  the  will. 

In  that  hour  the  man  learns  the  most  valuable 
truth  he  can  learn — that  it  is  God  who  is  wishing 
to  save  him,  not  he  who  must  wrest  a  blessing 
from  an  unwilling  God.  We  deal  with  Him 
as  if  He  were  opposed  to  our  best  purposes 
and  grudged  to  advance  us  in  all  good,  as  if 
our  best  prospects  began  in  our  own  conception 
and  we  had  to  win  God  over  to  our  views.  If 
God  is  unwilling,  then  there  is  an  end ;  no 
device  nor  force  will  get  us  past  Him.  If  He 
is  willing,  why  all  this  unworthy  dealing  with 
Him,  as  if  the  whole  idea  and  accomplishment 
of  salvation  did  not  proceed  from  Him  ? 

Prayer 

We  are  weary  of  the  deceitfulness  of  our 
own  hearts,  which  will  not  come  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  asking  that  we  may  receive  ;  weary  of 
the  pride   of  our   own   hearts,  which   will   not 

68 


STRENGTH    IN    WEAKNESS 

come  to  the  humility  of  receiving  daily  at  Thy 
hand.  Yet  if  we  receive  not  we  are  poor 
indeed.  We  thank  Thee  for  all  we  have  with- 
out our  asking,  and  which  no  efforts  of  ours 
could  have  brought  us,  for  our  creation — of 
Thine  own  free  grace — for  the  finished  work  of 
Christ.  We  thank  Thee  that  for  us  Thou  hast 
a  purpose  of  God — that  for  us  there  is  a  Saviour 
who  has  loved  us  and  given  Himself  for  us. 


TWENTY-FOURTH    SUNDAY 


PRESENT  VICTORY  OVER   SIN 


"  Thine,  0  Lord,  is  the  victory." — 1  Chronicles  xxix.  11. 

"I  pray  not  that  Thou  shouldst  take  them  out  of  the 
world,  but  that  Thou  shouldst  keep  them  from  the  evil." — 
John  xvii.  15. 


0[IN  is  as  much  sin  now  as  ever  it  can  be  in 
^-'^  the  future.  If  it  is  wrong  to  sin  in  the 
world  to  come,  it  is  wrong  to  sin  now.  Sin,  if 
hateful  to  God,  must  be  as  hateful  now  as  ever 
it  can  be.  If  God  is  in  earnest  in  delivering  me 
from  sin,  He  will  deliver  me  now ;  and  if  I  am 
in  earnest  about  being  delivered,  no  expecta- 
tion of  future  deliverance  can  compensate  for 
the  misery  of  present  bondage.  The  Saviour  I 
need  is  one  who  can  help  me  to-day,  one  who 
counts   my  present   enemies   His   enemies,   and 

70 


PRESENT  VICTORY   OVER  SIN 

who  can  communicate  to  me  such  real  strength 
as  shall  make  the  difference  between  my  being 
defeated  and  conquering  them.  If  He  merely 
promises  to  take  me  out  from  among  my  foes, 
if  He  merely  says  I  shall  be  rid  of  them  when  I 
die,  is  that  to  be  called  victory  ?  Certainly  not ; 
and  it  is  not  such  victory  Christ  offers. 


Prayer 

O  God,  increase  our  faith.  May  we  at  all  times 
believe  that  Thou  requirest  of  us  nothing  that 
Thy  almighty  power  is  not  able  to  accomplish 
in  us.  Give  us  such  belief  in  the  truth  of  Thy 
promises,  and  the  rightness  of  Thy  command- 
ments, as  will  prompt  us  more  earnestly  to 
strive  after  obtaining  what  Thou  hast  pro- 
mised, and  more  steadily  desirous  of  doing 
what  Thou  requirest.  We  thank  Thee  that  we 
can  come  to  Thee  as  our  God  who  has  given 
His  only  Son  to  die  for  us,  and  has  with  Him 
freely  given  us  all  things.  We  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  wilt  not  be  content  with  anything 
that  does  not  perfectly  fulfil  Thy   perfect  love 

71 


PRESENT  VICTORY   OVER  SIN 

and  purpose.  When  we  consider  that  it  is  to 
the  fulness  of  Godhead  Thou  givest  us  access, 
that  it  is  the  resources  of  God  Thou  permittest 
us  to  draw  upon,  we  are  ashamed  at  the 
poverty  of  our  requests.  Oh,  help  us  so  truly 
to  believe  in  Thy  love  that  we  shall  feel  our 
life  encompassed  by  Thee,  that  we  shall  at  all 
times  feel  the  blessedness  of  dependence  on 
Thee. 


72 


TWENTY-FIFTH    SUNDAY 

FORGIVENESS  THE  ROOT  OF  PURITY 

"  Wash  me  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow."— Psalm  li.  7. 

"Oh,  for  a  heart  that  never  sins, 
Oh,  for  a  soul  washed  white  I  " 

TpORGIVENESS  may  be  granted  by  a  word. 
It  calls  for  no  long  process.  And  thus 
our  guilt  as  transgressors  of  God's  law  may  at 
any  time  be  removed  by  a  momentary  act  of 
God. 

But  that  which  defiles  us  in  God's  sight  is 
not  only  our  guilt.  We  have  not  only  laid 
ourselves  open  to  punishment,  but  we  have 
given  harbour  to  wicked  imaginations,  and  we 
find  in  our  hearts  evil  propensities  and  dis- 
positions which  excite  loathing  even  in  our- 
selves.    These  defile  us  and  make  it  impossible 

73 


FORGIVENESS  THE  ROOT  OF  PURITY 

that  a  pure  God  should  find  pleasure  in  inter- 
course with  us.     Can,  then,  the  forgiveness  pro- 
nounced by  God   be    dissociated  from    inward 
purity,   or  does  it  include  inward  cleansing  as 
well  as  the  removal  of  guilt?     The  answer  is 
obvious   when   we   consider  that   the   one  con- 
dition on  which  we  receive  forgiveness  is  that 
we   desire   it.     It  is  the   man  who   wishes  for- 
giveness who  gets  it.     God  does  not  scatter  it 
blindfold  and  indiscriminately.     He  grants  it  to 
the  man  who  feels  that  above  all  else  he  must 
be   reconciled   to   God.     The   man   who   merely 
fears  consequences  may  not  be  pardoned  ;  but 
certainly  every  man  who  thirsts  for  God,   and 
cannot  live  under  His  frown,   every  man  who 
sincerely  seeks  friendship  with    God,    receives 
God's  forgiveness.     But  this   craving  for  God's 
love   implies   that  the   love   of  sin  has  got  its 
death-blow   in   us,   that  a   stronger  power  has 
entered  us,   and   will  at   last  prevail.     Where 
God  sees  love  for  Himself  He  sees  the  root  of 
all    purity.     In    every    heart    that    craves    His 
pardon  because  it  prizes  His  favour  He  sees   a 
cleansing  power  that  will  gradually  assert  itself 

74 


FOKGIVENESS  THE  ROOT  OF  PURITY 

throughout  our  whole   nature,    and    leave    no 
spot  nor  stain  upon  us. 


Prayer 

Thou  who  art  the  source  of  all  gracious 
influences  that  can  effectually  help  us,  and 
without  whom  we  cannot  hope  to  live  on  and 
to  live  happily,  do  Thou  be  gracious  to  us  and 
leave  us  not  in  the  power  of  those  things  to 
which  we  have  recklessly  and  ignorantly  given 
ourselves.  Establish  between  our  souls  and 
Christ  a  fuller  confidence.  May  we  know  more 
of  His  power  to  save  from  sin  ;  may  we  ex- 
perience that  His  salvation  is  a  complete 
provision  for  every  want,  applicable  in  all 
circumstances.  Help  us,  O  God  of  our  salva- 
tion, for  the  glory  of  Thy  name. 


75 


TWENTY-SIXTH   SUNDAY 


THE   REAL   VALUE   OF   LIFE 


"What  is  your  life?" — James  iv.  14. 

"  All  things  seem  rushing  straight  into  the  dark, 
But  the  dark  still  is  God." 


r  I  iHERE  are  circumstances  so  afflicting  and 
straitened,  so  tormenting  and  hampering, 
that  we  are  apt  to  think  we  do  well  if  only 
we  do  not  cry  out  and  let  all  the  world  know 
how  we  suffer ;  but  there  is  a  better  thing  to 
do  always,  and  that  is  to  set  ourselves  with 
patience  and  self-crucifixion  to  think  of  others 
and  do  our  best  for  them.  In  the  worst  cir- 
cumstances, in  circumstances  so  perplexing  we 
know  not  how  to  act,  there  remains  a  some- 
thing to  be  done  which  we  could  in  no  other 
circumstances   do,   a    good    fruit    to   be    borne 

76 


THE  REAL  VALUE   OF  LIFE 

which  needs  these  grievous  circumstances  as 
its  soil,  and  which,  when  it  is  borne,  will  be 
more  sweet  to  our  taste  eternally  than  all 
the  happiness  which  success  and  pleasure  in 
this  world  can  give.  The  fact  that  our  Lord 
thought  human  life — a  life  in  this  very  world 
that  we  have  to  live  through — worth  living, 
and  the  most  capable  life  for  spending  a  Divine 
fulness  of  wisdom  and  goodness  in,  shows  us 
that  there  are  objects  on  which  we  may 
liberally  spend  ourselves  in  the  persuasion  that 
they  will  not  disappoint  us. 

Prayer 

Give  us  grace  to  set  our  hearts  to  understand 
Thy  gracious  dealings  with  us.  Keep  us,  O 
God,  from  taking  matters  into  our  own  hand 
instead  of  waiting  to  be  led  and  guided  by 
Thee.  Help  us  truly  and  simply  to  trust  Thee. 
Make  us  alive  to  the  fact  that  Thou  hast  given 
each  one  of  us  a  work  to  do  for  Thee,  and  that 
Thou  hast  placed  us  where  we  can  best  carry 
on    Thy    work.     We    thank    Thee    that    Thou 

77 


THE   REAL  VALUE   OF  LIFE 

requirest  nothing  that  Thy  grace  will  not  fit 
us  to  do.  Thou  knowest  our  weakness,  our 
ignorance,  our  sinfulness,  better  than  we  know 
it  ourselves,  and  yet  Thou  hast  chosen  us  for 
Thy  service.  Help  us  ever  to  seek  first  the 
things  of  Thy  kingdom.  Bring  us  into  true 
harmony  with  our  fellows.  As  Thou  didst 
think  them  worthy  to  redeem  may  we  despise 
none,  shrink  from  none,  speak  evil  of  none. 
May  we  have  love  and  patience  to  consider 
their  needs,  and  may  every  good  thing  Thou 
doest  towards  them  kindle  some  thankfulness 
in  us. 


78 


TWENTY-SEVENTH    SUNDAY 

WILL  GOD  IN  VERY  DEED  DWELL 
WITH  MEN? 

"  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee."— Zechariah  ii.  11. 

"  For  thee  I  hung  upon  the  cross  in  pain, 
How,  then,  can  I  forget  ?  " 

"OEYOND  this,  indeed,  no  promise  can  at 
~^"^^  any  time  go.  If  God  dwells  with  us 
because  He  loves  us  and  seeks  our  presence, 
this  implies  that  all  good  will  be  ours.  What 
can  God  do  more  than  come  and  share  with 
us?  What  else  can  He  promise  in  order  to 
encourage  us?  What  more  can  He  do  than 
bring  Himself?  And  if  it  would  have  been 
unreasonable  of  those  to  whom  this  promise 
was  given  to  murmur,  what  must  we  say  of 
murmuring   now    after   the    promise   has   been 

79 


WILL  GOD  IN  VERY  DEED 

fulfilled  in  a  manner  which  beforehand  none 
could  dare  anticipate  ?  Are  we  to  live  as  if  this 
promise  were  yet  unfulfilled  ?  Are  we  to  make 
no  response,  no  acknowledgment  ?  Is  the  fact  of 
His  presence  to  excite  no  hope,  no  ambition,  no 
craving  for  the  Divine  ?  Are  we  to  go  on  through 
life  practically  saying :  "  "What  matters  it ;  what 
though  God  does  love  me  ?  It  is  nothing  to  me 
though  His  love  for  me  does  draw  Him  to  live 
with  me."  If  so  we  wait  in  vain  for  any  more 
encouraging  fact  to  enter  our  life.  In  this 
alone  have  we  all  that  we  need  to  balance  and 
guide  our  life.  To  live  as  in  a  world  from 
which  God  can  never  pass  away,  this  is  the  key 
to  happiness  and  energy. 


Prayer 

Give  us  grace  to  consecrate  the  Lord  God 
in  our  hearts  and  to  make  Him  our  sanctuary 
Thou  art  with  us  through  all  the  years,  through 
all  the  changes,  with  us  to  forgive,  to  encourage, 
to  aid.  O  Lord,  we  know  that  Thou  desirest 
to  be  our  support  and  comfort  in   every  time 

80 


DWELL  WITH  MEN? 

of  need  and  sorrow.  Help  us  always  to  admit 
the  comfort  Thy  presence  and  sympathy  bring. 
Make  us  willing  to  put  ourselves  into  Thy 
hand  without  fear  or  shrinking  to  receive 
whatever  discipline  Thou  seest  needful. 


Footsteps.  gj 


TWENTY-EIGHTH    SUNDAY 


REALITY   OF   UNSEEN    HELP 


•'  The  battle  is  the  Lord's." — 1  Samuel  xvii.  47. 
"  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts." — Zechaeiah  iv.  6. 


r7ECHARIAH  had  shared  in  the  prevailing 
^^^  despondency  of  his  time.  He  did  not  see 
what  good  could  be  accomplished  by  men  of 
so  little  pith  as  Zerubbabel  and  the  rest.  He 
had  taken  their  measure,  and  he  despaired  of 
them  as  the  root  or  beginning  of  any  noble 
undertaking  or  any  fruitful  work.  Such  men 
can  never  shine  as  lights  in  the  world.  Such 
feeble,  incompetent  persons  could  only  bring 
disgrace  on  religion. 

But  in   the  vision  of   the  candlestick  it  was 
made   clear  to   Zechariah's   mind   that  he   had 

82 


REALITY  OF  UNSEEN   HELP 

been   wrong,   not  perhaps   in  his   judgment  of 
his  contemporaries,   but  in  forgetting  one  con- 
temporary of  whom  he  had  made  no  account, 
"Not    by    might,    nor    by    power" — so    far    he 
was  right,  there  was  neither  might  nor  power 
— "  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
He  is   reminded  of  the  source   of  the  Church's 
light,  and  it  is   revealed   to   him  that  the   oil 
which     feeds    this    light — the    Spirit,    that     is, 
which  produces  right  action  and  God-glorifying 
results  in  men — flows   from    an    inexhaustible 
source   beyond   the   light   itself ;    so    that    you 
can  never  measure  the  light  by  looking  at  the 
wick,  or   at  the   amount  of   oil  each  bowl  can 
contain,   but    only  by    looking    at    the    source 
whence  the    oil    is    supplied.     With    immense 
significance   the   oil    was    seen    to    be    derived 
from     two     living     olive-trees  —  obviously     to 
teach   that    though   the   bowls   might  be   very 
small,    the    supply    out    of    which    the    bowls 
could  be    refilled    was    inexhaustibly    large,    a 
living  fountain  of  oil. 


83 


PRAYER 

Lord,  teach  us  to  trust  Thee.  We  know 
that  there  is  every  reason  to  trust  Thee,  but 
we  need  Thy  help  lest  we  be  moved  away 
from  the  beginning  of  our  confidence.  May 
Thy  Spirit  be  with  us  to  point  out  to  us 
and  to  impress  on  us  the  reasons  there  are 
for  trusting  Thee,  that  we  may  never  be 
beaten  down  so  low  as  to  forget  that  Thou 
art  on  our  side.  May  He  remind  us  that 
Thou  art  the  unchangeable  God,  from  ever- 
lasting to  everlasting,  a  sufficient  centre  for 
the  faith  of  all  that  Thou  hast  made.  May 
He  bring  to  our  mind  Thy  lovingkindnesses 
which  have  been  ever  of  old,  that  knowing 
Thy  name  as  the  dwelling-place  of  Thy  people 
in  all  generations,  we  also  may  put  our  trust 
in  Thee. 


8i 


TWENTY-NINTH    SUNDAY 


THINGS   FREELY   GIVEN 


'  Things  freely  given." — 1  Corinthians  ii.  12. 
In  Thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy." — Psalm  xvi.  11. 


"Y"TTHAT  men's  eyes  need  specially  to  be 
opened  to  is  the  bounty  of  God  and 
the  consequent  wealth  and  hopefulness  of 
human  life.  Paul's  wondering  delight  in 
God's  grace  and  loving  adaptation  of  Himself 
to  human  needs  continually  finds  utterance 
in  his  writings.  His  own  sense  of  unworthi- 
ness  magnified  the  forgiving  mercy  of  God. 
He  rejoiced  in  a  Divine  love  which  was 
passing  knowledge,  but  which  he  knew  could 
be  relied  upon  to  the  utmost.  The  vision  of 
this  love  opened  to  his  hope  a  vista  of 
happiness.     There    is    a   natural    joy   in    living 

85 


THINGS  FREELY  GIVEN 

that  all  men  can  understand.  This  life  in 
many  ways  appeals  to  our  thirst  for  happi- 
ness, and  often  it  seems  as  if  we  needed 
nothing  more.  But  in  one  way  or  other  most 
of  us  learn  that  what  is  naturally  presented 
to  us  in  this  world  is  not  enough,  indeed 
only  brings  in  the  long  run  anxiety  and 
grief.  And  then  it  is  that,  by  God's  grace, 
men  come  to  find  that  this  life  is  but  a  small 
lagoon  leading  to  and  fed  by  the  boundless 
ocean  of  God's  love  beyond.  They  learn  that 
there  is  a  hope  that  cannot  be  blighted,  a  joy 
that  is  uninterrupted,  a  fulness  of  life  that 
meets  and  satisfies  every  instinct,  and  affec- 
tion, and  purpose.  They  begin  to  see  the 
things  that  God  has  prepared  for  them  that 
ove  Him,  the  things  that  are  "freely  given" 
to  us  of  God. 


Prayer 

We  thank  Thee  that  Thy  goodness  has  created 
us  capable  of  becoming  Thy  children,  that 
this  life   may  become   to  us   the  foundation  of 

86 


THINGS   FREELY  GIVEN 

a  perfect  blessedness,  the  beginning  of  an 
unending  and  uncorrupt  existence.  We  desire 
to  come  to  Thee  remembering  the  great 
realities  which  have  been  enacted  for  this 
end.  We  thank  Thee  for  all  we  have  without 
our  asking,  and  which  no  effort  of  ours 
could  ever  have  brought  us  ;  we  thank  Thee 
for  our  creation,  for  the  finished  work  of 
Christ. 


87 


THIRTIETH    SUNDAY 


GOD'S  HELP  EVER  PRESENT  TO  FAITH 


"  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for." — 
Hebrews  xi.  1. 

"  Wherefore  should  I  fear  in  the  days  of  evil  ? " — 
Psalm  xlix.  5. 


"TXTE  have  our  dull  and  ignominious  times, 
when  nothing  seems  to  prosper  with 
us,  when  we  feel  as  if  everything  Divine  were 
remote  or  unreal,  when  our  prayers  have 
been  so  long  unanswered  that  we  begin 
seriously  to  doubt  whether  prayer  avails.  To 
have  an  eye  for  things  spiritual  makes  all 
the  difference  at  these  times.  The  veil  that 
hides  the  forces  which  really  rule  this  world 
is  lifted,  and  we  see  things  in  their  true 
relations.  We  see  the  swift  couriers  of 
Jehovah    incessantly    streaming    in    from    all 

88 


GOD'S  HELP  EVER  PRESENT  TO  FAITH 

parts  of  the  earth,  we  see  that  there  is 
nothing  unobserved,  and  that  He  to  whom 
this  detailed  information  is  present  does  not 
wait  to  be  urged  or  prompted  to  action,  but 
that  with  gravity,  earnestness,  and  im- 
passioned tenderness,  He  interposes  at  the 
fitting  juncture.  While  we  are  thinking  that 
our  efforts  to  set  matters  right  are  not 
observed  or  regarded  by  any  higher  power, 
there  is  a  grave  and  comprehensive  considera- 
tion of  our  affairs,  a  sense  of  responsibility 
which  accepts  and  discharges  the  manage- 
ment of  all  human  interests,  an  efficient 
activity     to     which     ours     is     as     negligence. 

Prayer 

O  God,  remove  all  that  hinders  our 
devotion,  all  misconception  of  Thy  nature, 
all  spiritless  views  of  Thy  Providence, 
all  despair  of  life.  Many  things  make  it 
difficult  for  us  to  come  into  Thy  presence 
as  we  ought,  but  it  is  our  comfort  to  know 
that  Thou  art   with  us  not  only  in   our  times 

89 


GOD'S    HELP   EVER    PRESENT   TO   FAITH 

of  worship  but  in  the  whole  of  our  life. 
Lift  us  out  of  our  indifference,  and  help  us 
to  think  rightly  of  Thee.  Increase  our  faith 
by  revealing  Thyself  to  us.  Command  our 
thoughts  and  assert  Thine  authority  and 
prove  Thy  power  over  our  spirits.  Help  us, 
not  because  our  faith  is  strong  or  our  love 
ardent,  but  because  we  need  all  things,  and 
Thou  art  the  God  of  all  grace.  Give  us  that 
faith  which  is  the  vision  of  things  spiritual, 
the  consciousness  of  Thy  presence  with  us 
continually. 


90 


THIRTY-FIRST    SUNDAY 


CALLED  ACCORDING  TO  GOD'S  PURPOSE 

"  Called    according    to    His    own    purpose    and    grace."— 
Romans  viii.  28. 

•'  Each  passing  day,  each  passing  hour, 
To  live  in  His  great  power." 


"TF  you  asked  yourself  or  any  one  else, 
Is  it  a  matter  of  absolute  indifference 
to  God  what  results  from  your  life?  you 
would  be  answered  that  it  is  impossible  to 
conceive  of  God  at  all  without  supposing 
that  He  desires  every  human  life  to  serve 
some  good  purpose.  This,  at  all  events,  is 
Christ's  view.  This  is  what  made  His  life 
what  it  was,  influential  to  all  time,  and  the 
unfailing  source  of  the  highest  energy  to  all 
other   lives.      That    is    to    say,    He    has    given 

91 


CALLED  ACCORDING  TO  GOD'S  PURPOSE 

us  the  most  cogent  of  all  demonstrations  that 
in  proportion  as  we  accept  His  view  of  the 
connection  of  our  life  with  God  shall  we 
resemble  Him  in  the  utility  and  permanent 
result  of  all  we  do.  It  has  become  obvious 
that  in  the  world  of  nature  nothing  is 
isolated  and  independent,  that  all  nature  is 
one  whole,  governed  by  one  idea  and  fulfilling 
one  purpose.  Human  lives  are  under  the 
same  law.  No  life  is  outside  of  the  plan 
which  comprehends  the  whole  ;  every  life 
contributes  something  to  the  fulfilment  of 
the  great  purpose  all  are  to  serve.  Our  Lord 
tells  us  that  this  purpose  is  in  the  mind  of 
God,  and  that  He  judges  us  by  our  fulfil- 
ment or  non-fulfilment  of  His  will.  And 
that  we  should  be  reluctant  to  bring  forth 
fruit  to  God  or  hesitate  to  live  for  Him  has 
its  root  in  the  foolish  idea  that  God  and  we 
have  opposing  interests,  so  that  to  help  out 
God's  idea  of  the  world  and  to  work  with 
Him  and  towards  His  end  is  really  not  our 
best.  Nothing  seems  enough  to  teach  us  that 
God   is   all   on   our  side  and  that   He   has  laid 

92 


CALLED  ACCORDING  TO  GOD'S  PURPOSE 

up  for  us   abundant  provision  for  feeling    and 
thought  and  for  spiritual  strength  and  joy. 


Prayer 

May  we  be  really  one  with  Christ,  not  in 
name  only  but  in  love.  As  His  life  was 
shaped  by  His  love  for  us  and  union  with 
us,  so  may  ours  be  lived  in  conformity  with 
His  blessed  life.  May  we  be  enabled  to  believe 
that  we  can  be  as  truly  nourished  by  Christ's 
life  as  each  member  is  by  the  life  of  the  body. 
And  as  He  embraced  all  men  in  His  love  and 
could  leave  none  outside,  so  may  we  be 
emptied  of  self  and  filled  with  love  to  our 
fellow-men,  doing  good  to  all  as  we  have 
opportunity. 


93 


THIRTY-SECOND    SUNDAY 

GOD'S  GRANT  AND  OUR  CONQUEST 

"Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side?" — Exodus  xxxii.  26. 
"  He  always  wins  who  sides  with  God." 

"  TF  so  be  the  Lord  will  be  with  me,  then  I 
shall  be  able  to  drive  them  out."  This 
is  the  law  of  our  acquisition  also.  What 
becomes  really  ours  is  what  we  fight  for  inch 
by  inch,  killing  as  we  go,  slaughtering  the 
obstinate  foe  on  his  own  soil,  so  that  the 
property  be  left  to  us  uncontested.  God's 
grant  is  useless  to  us,  quite  useless,  if  we 
will  not  draw  the  sword  to  conquer  it,  if 
we  will  not  wield  the  axe  and  clear  it.  These 
two  united  form  the  strongest  of  titles,  God's 
grant    and   our   own   conquest.      What   a   man 

94 


GOD'S  GRANT  AND  OUR  CONQUEST 

wins  by  his  own  faith,  fortitude,  and  per- 
sistence, by  his  own  nerve,  vigour,  and 
hardihood,  fighting  as  a  soldier  commissioned 
by  God  to  do  battle  against  evil— that,  and 
nothing  else,  he  has  as  his  very  own. 


Prayer 

May     we     feel     the     guilt    of    sin    and    be 
ashamed    of  blindly  thwarting    Thy   purposes, 
doing  what  hinders  the  advance   of   good  and 
stains  and   degrades   our   own   soul.      Help   us 
to    master    our    own    spirit,    to    repress    and 
eradicate    all    evil    tendencies,     all     discontent 
and  envy,   all  lust   of  the  world  and  pride   of 
life,  all  sloth,  and  fear,   and  vanity,  and  every 
kind  of   weakness.     Deliver  us   from   sins   and 
vices  that  keep  us  on  a  low  level  of  character 
and  life   and  prevent  us   from  being   of  much 
use  in  the  world.      May  we   be  more   alive   to 
the  fact  that  we  have   this  work  to  do.     Help 
us    to    lay    aside    every    weight    and    the    sin 
that    doth    so     easily    beset    us  ;    help    us    to 
overcome     every     motion     of    the    body    and 

95 


GOD'S  GRANT  AND  OUR  CONQUEST 

mind  that  is  repugnant  to  Thy  holy  will. 
We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  promised  us 
Thy  help,  that  Thy  grace  is  sufficient  for  all 
our  need. 


96 


THIRTY-THIRD    SUNDAY 


CHRIST  OUR  PASSOVER 


"  Christ  our  Passover." — 1  Corinthians  v.  7. 

"  He  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  not  henceforth 
live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  Him  which  died  for  them." — 
2  Corinthians  v.  1 


/CHRIST  is  our  Passover,  because  through 
^"^^  Him  there  is  made  the  acknowledgment 
that  we  belong  to  God.  He  is  in  very  truth 
the  prime  and  flower,  the  best  representative 
of  our  race,  the  firstborn  of  every  creature. 
He  is  the  One  who  can  make  for  all  others 
this  acknowledgment  that  we  are  God's  people. 
And  He  does  so  by  perfectly  giving  Himself 
up  to  God.  This  fact  that  we  belong  to  God, 
that  we  men  are  His  creatures  and  subjects, 
has  never  been  perfectly  acknowledged  save 
by  Christ. 

Footsteps.  QJ  H 


CHRIST  OUR  PASSOVER 

Only  those  of  us  who  see  that  we  ought 
to  live  for  God  can  claim  Christ  as  our  repre- 
sentative. Only  those  who  wished  to  go  free 
from  Egypt  to  serve  God  sacrificed  the  Pas- 
chal lamb ;  the  service  of  God,  the  living  as 
His  people,  was  the  object  they  had  in  view. 
What  object  have  we  ?  If  we  mean  to  be  of 
His  spirit,  if  we  mean  to  count  it  our  meat 
and  drink  to  do  God's  will,  if  we  are  really 
disposed  to  seek  the  advancement  of  God's 
purposes,  and  not  to  seek  great  things  for 
ourselves,  we  may  speak  of  Him  as  our  Sub- 
stitute and  Sacrifice.  If  He  is  our  Passover, 
the  meaning  of  this  is  that  He  gives  us  liberty 
to  serve  God,  that  He  comes  to  redeem  us 
from  all  that  hinders  our  serving  Him.  The 
one  question  is,  Do  we  at  heart  wish  to  give 
ourselves  up  to  God?  Do  we  find  in  His  life 
and  death,  in  His  submission  to  God  and 
meek  acceptance  of  all  God  appointed,  the 
truest  representation  of  what  we  would  fain 
be  and  do,  but  cannot? 


PRAYER 

May  we  live  more  entirely  upon  Christian 
motives,  and  in  a  Christian  atmosphere,  letting 
our  thoughts  and  feelings  be  elevated  and 
sanctified  and  softened  by  continual  contact 
with  the  love  of  Christ.  We  have  been  slow 
to  understand  Thy  purposes,  to  understand  in 
how  true  and  full  a  sense  we  are  thine.  But 
our  hope  is  still  in  Thee,  and  while  we  are 
ashamed  that  we  have  not  shrunk  from 
wounding  Thy  Fatherly  feeling  by  coldness, 
indifference,  and  sullen  unbelief,  yet  we  would 
come  to  Thee  with  hope  as  well  as  with 
shame.  May  we  be  able  truly  to  abide  in 
Thee,  that  our  whole  character  may  be  trans- 
formed and  our  will  fashioned  in  accordance 
with  Thine. 


99 


THIRTY-FOURTH    SUNDAY 

CHRIST  OUR  PASSOVER 

Christ  our  Passover,  sacrificed  for  us."— 1  Corinthians  v.  7. 

"  One  only  stream,  a  stream  of  blood, 
Can  wash  away  the  blot." 


T 


HE  Paschal  lamb  was  offered,  not  as  in 
any  way  worthy  of  God's  acceptance,  but 
being  looked  on  as  a  substitute  for  the  family, 
it  saved  the  firstborn  from  death.  God  did 
not  wish  to  smite  Israel,  but  to  save  them. 
But  He  did  not  simply  omit  the  Israelite  houses 
and  pick  out  the  Egyptian  ones  through  the 
land.  He  left  it  to  the  choice  of  the  people 
whether  they  would  accept  His  deliverance 
and  belong  to  Him  or  not.  The  angel  of 
judgment  was  to  recognise  no  distinction 
between    Israelite   and    Egyptian   save   this   of 

100 


CHRIST  OUR  PASSOVER 

the  sprinkled,  stained  doorposts.  Death  was 
to  enter  every  house  where  the  blood  was  not 
visible ;  mercy  was  to  rest  on  every  family 
that  dwelt  under  this  sign.  God  meant  that 
all  should  be  rescued,  but  He  would  not  force 
any — we  may  say  He  could  not  force  any — to 
yield  themselves  to  Him. 

And  now  Christ  our  Passover  is  slain  and 
we  are  asked  to  determine  whether  we  will 
use  His  sacrifice  or  no.  We  are  not  asked  to 
add  anything  to  the  efficacy  of  that  sacrifice, 
but  only  to  avail  ourselves  of  it.  Wherever 
there  was  faith  there  was  a  man  in  the  twi- 
light sprinkling  his  lintel,  and  resolved  that 
no  solicitation  should  tempt  him  from  behind 
the  blood  till  the  angel  had  passed  by.  He  took 
God  at  His  word ;  he  believed  God  meant  to 
deliver  him,  and  he  did  what  he  was  told  was 
his  part.  To  us  God  opens  a  way  out  from 
all  bondage  and  from  all  that  gives  us  the 
spirit  of  slaves.  What  response  are  you  mak- 
ing? Can  you  believe  that  God  seeks  to 
deliver  you,  and  even  now  designs  for  you  a 
life  that  is  worthy  of   His  greatness  and  love, 

101 


CHRIST  OUR  PASSOVER 

a  life  that  shall  perfectly  satisfy  you  and  give 
play  to  all  your  worthy  desires  and  energies. 


Prayer 

O  God,  we  thank  Thee  that  in  Christ  Jesus 
we  may  draw  near  to  Thee  with  confidence. 
We  thank  Thee  for  the  finished  work  of  our 
Redeemer,  and  for  the  assurance  and  hope  that 
His  victory  over  death  and  the  grave  brings 
us.  May  our  whole  life  be  penetrated  and 
governed  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  all 
through  our  everyday  work  and  duties  and 
enjoyments  may  we  never  forget  that  we 
belong  to  Thee.  Lord  Jesus,  abide  in  us,  and 
keep  us  abiding  in  Thee. 


102 


THIRTY-FIFTH    SUNDAY 

CHRIST  THE  NEW  AND  LIVING  WAY 


"  A  new  and  living  way." — Hebrews  x.  20. 

"  By  whom  also  we  have  access  by  faith  unto  this  grace 
wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God."— 
Romans  v.  2. 


rnO  all  who  are  thinking  that  for  such  as 
-^  they  are  purity,  strength,  peace  can 
never  be,  who  feel  weak  and  shut  up,  so  that 
hourly  they  are  tempted  to  let  go  the  word, 
Christ  presents  Himself  as  He  that  is  holy. 
He  that  is  true;  who,  having  the  key,  hath 
set  open  before  you  a  door.  Do  you  not  seem 
to  be  gaining  ground?  Do  all  these  pro- 
mises from  which  you  expect  so  much  seem 
locked  treasures  to  you?  Are  you  driven 
back  from  the  riches  of  Christ  as  if  they  were 

103 


CHRIST  THE  NEW  AND  LIVING  WAY 

not  for  this  world  at  all,  and  as  if  you  must 
be  satisfied  to  live  by  the  motives,  for  the 
aims,  on  the  principles  of  other  men  who 
make  no  profession  ?  When  you  have  ex- 
pected too  easy  and  rapid  a  conquest  of  sin, 
too  great  liberty  and  strength  in  duty,  does 
some  tempter  whisper  that  you  should  not,  in 
reason,  expect  any  conquest  of  sin  nor  any 
strength  in  duty?  Are  you  miserable,  and 
see  nothing  beyond  and  through  your  misery 
and  have  no  thought  of  any  change  of  it,  but 
just  heartlessly  go  through  your  daily  work 
for  your  daily  bread,  sighing  coming  before 
your  meat — sighing  that  you  have  to  live  in- 
stead of  thanksgiving  that  you  do  live? 
Then  to  you  comes  this  word  of  Christ :  "  I 
have  set  before  you  an  open  door."  Posses- 
sion to  the  full  is  not  for  this  world  ;  but  as 
little  is  despair  or  heartless  indifference.  Hope 
—  sure,  confident,  and  bright-eyed  hope  —  is 
for  this  world,  a  hope  that  will  carry  you 
forward  through  the  open  door  set  before 
you. 


104 


PRAYER 

We  thank  thee,  O  God,  that  Thou  hast 
consecrated  for  us  a  new  and  living  way,  and 
that  with  boldness  we  may  enter  into  the 
holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus. 

Grant  that  we  may  have  that  higher  tone  in 
conduct,  that  truer  and  sincerer  devotedness  to 
what  is  good,  that  purer  conscience,  that  deeper 
truthfulness,  that  come  from  fellowship  with 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Give  us  some  growth 
in  the  divine  life,  that  we  may  be  encouraged 
in  it,  that  we  may  not  feel  that  in  us  are 
obstacles  that  cannot  be  removed.  May  we 
believe  Thy  Word  ;  may  we  accept  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  may  we  rely 
upon  Him  as  absolutely  true,  yielding  our- 
selves to  Him,  that  so  we  may  learn  of  Him. 


105 


THIRTY-SIXTH    SUNDAY 

NO    NEW   LIFE   WITH    THE    OLD    HEART 

"Enoch  walked  with  God."— Genesis  v.  24. 
"Can    two    walk    together    except    they    be    agreed?"— 
Amos  iii.  3. 

TO  be  truly  servants  of  God,  this  is  the 
difficulty — to  sink  our  own  cause  and 
prospects  and  will  in  the  cause  of  God;  to 
be  truly  in  God's  hand  to  be  used  as  He 
wills  ;  to  come  back  day  by  day  and  wait 
for  orders  from  Him;  to  acquire  thus  the 
understanding  of  what  He  seeks  to  do  in  the 
world,  and  gradually  to  abjure  every  other 
thought  than  how  to  accomplish  this,  to  be 
consecrated  and  to  be  faithful  ;  this  is  what 
God  requires  of  us  all.  And  to  this  God  will 
bring    you,    so    that    the    hopes   and   plans   of 

106 


NO  NEW    LIFE   WITH  THE   OLD  HEART 

merely  selfish  advancement  are  just  so  much 
affliction  and  sorrow  sown  for  you ;  the  eager 
ambitions  that  burn  in  your  hearts  and 
stimulate  you  to  work  are  but  driving  you 
off  the  road  ;  and  from  them  all  you  must 
return  to  the  simplicity  of  God's  servants 
who  care  only  to  please  Him.  It  is  when 
we  have  no  aim  but  this  that  we  find  rest. 
It  matters  little  in  what  form  our  self- 
seeking  shows  itself.  We  strive  to  improve 
our  character,  and  gradually  it  dawns  on  us 
that  the  reason  our  efforts  are  vain  is  that 
we  are  striving  to  do  God's  will,  not  simply 
because  it  is  God's  will  but  because  we  shall 
be  worthier  persons  if  we  do  it — striving  to 
live  a  new  life  with  an  old  heart.  Self  is 
our  centre  and  object,  and  all  is  wrong  with 
us  till  God  is  our  object,  till  we  truly,  simply, 
and  directly  love  Him. 

Prayer 

Thou  art   our  God,   and    all    that    we    have 
is   Thine — our  life,  our   breath,  and   all  things. 

107 


NO   NEW  LIFE   WITH  THE  OLD    HEART 

All  station,  influence,  wealth,  ability,  success, 
advantages,  hopes,  all  are  of  Thee,  and  we 
lay  them  at  Thy  feet ;  desiring  that  Thou 
wouldst  enable  each  one  of  us,  contradicting 
the  dictates  of  our  own  hearts,  to  consecrate 
ourselves  to  Thee,  and  thus  lay  the  right 
foundation  for  our  lives.  We  thank  Thee  if 
Thou  hast  taught  us  to  live  cheerfully  and 
confidently,  not  because  we  have  so  much  of 
our  own,  but  because  we  are  ourselves  Thine. 
We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  taught  us  to 
choose  Thee  as  our  inheritance  and  portion, 
and  to  believe  that  when  all  those  things  in 
which  we  now  delight  shall  have  passed  away. 
Thou  remainest  able  to  give  us  higher  and 
better  things,  opening  still  Thyself  as  the 
dwelling-place  of  Thy  people  in  all  genera- 
tions. 


108 


THIRTY-SEVENTH    SUNDAY 


FULNESS  OF  LIFE  IN  CHRIST'S  LIFE 


"  That  our  hearts  may  surely  there  be  fixed 
Where  true  joys  are  to  be  found." 


"TXTE  mistake  when  we  think  that  fulness 
of  life  can  be  found  anywhere  else 
than  in  Christ.  He  has  come  for  the  express 
purpose  of  enlarging,  deepening,  and  intensify- 
ing life — "I  am  come  that  they  might  have 
life,  and  might  have  it  more  abundantly." 
He  is  the  God-appointed  source  of  fulness  of 
life,  and  until  we  accept  and  use  Him  we 
cannot  know  the  strength,  the  hope,  the  liberty, 
the  largeness  of  life,  that  God  designs  for  us. 
A  kind  of  life  you  may  have  out  of  Christ, 
but  so  long  as  you  fail  to  use  what  God  has 
provided   for   your  full  life,  you  have  not  that 

109 


ULNESS   OF  LIFE  IN  CHRIST'S    LIFE 

perfect  manhood  He  means  you  to  have. 
There  are  powers  in  you  undeveloped,  and 
the  best  uses  and  joys  you  miss. 

Do  not  look,  then,  at  fellowship  with  Christ 
as  an  hospital  to  which  you  may  one  day 
be  driven  for  refuge  and  for  succour.  Do 
not  ever  think  of  it  as  something  which  you 
might  be  the  better  for  but  can  get  along 
without.  But  understand  that  it  is  the  one 
only  means  by  which  you  can  reach  the 
highest,  and  become  all  that  you  were  meant 
to  be. 

Prayer 

We  would  praise  Thee  that  Thou  hast  called 
us  to  union  with  Thyself,  that  we  may  aim 
at  an  eternal  life  full  of  glory,  honour,  and 
service,  and  we  pray  Thee  to  help  us  that 
we  may  count  the  main  use  of  this  world 
to  be  our  preparation  and  blessed  opportunity 
for  becoming  fit  for  another. 

Forbid  that  we  should  ever  think  of  life  as 
a  mere  spending  of  time ;  may  we  believe  in 
Thy    purpose,   and   that  in   Christ  Jesus   Thou 

110 


FULNESS   OF  LIFE   IN  CHRIST'S   LIFE 

hast  made  provision  inexhaustible  for  every 
part  of  our  nature  and  for  the  need  of  all 
Thy  creatures.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou 
puttest  it  within  the  reach  of  every  one  to 
make  his  life  worthy  and  satisfying. 


Ill 


THIRTY-EIGHTH    SUNDAY 


TRUE  MANHOOD 


"In  the  great  hand  of  God  I  stand  and  thence 
Look  out  on  life,  His  endless  holy  feast." 


nnO  Joseph  in  Egypt  there  was  nothing  left 
but  his  own  manhood  and  his  faith  in 
God.  But  so  easily  did  he  throw  off  all  vain 
regrets  and  stifle  all  vindictive  and  morbid 
feelings,  so  readily  did  he  adjust  himself  to 
and  so  heartily  enter  into  life  as  it  presented 
itself  to  him,  that  he  speedily  rose  to  be 
overseer  in  the  house  of  Potiphar.  You  can 
hear  him  saying  deep  down  in  his  heart  and 
almost  unconsciously  to  himself :  "  If  the 
world  is  full  of  hatred,  there  is  all  the  more 
need  that  at  least  one  man  should  forgive  and 
love ;  if  men's  hearts  are  black  with  selfishness, 

112 


TRUE  MANHOOD 

ambition,  and  lust,  all  the  more  reason  for 
me  to  be  pure  and  to  do  my  best  for  all 
whom  my  service  can  reach ;  if  cruelty,  lying, 
and  fraud  meet  me  at  every  step,  all  the 
more  am  I  called  to  conquer  these  by  integrity 
and  guilelessness." 


Prayer 

We  thank  Thee  that  things  are  ordered  for 
our  good,  that  the  result  of  all  is  to  justify 
Thy  wisdom  and  love,  that  though  on  the 
way  many  things  happen  to  us  which  are 
hard  to  bear  and  difficult  to  understand,  the 
end  of  all  is  to  be  perfect  victory,  perfect 
peace,  perfect  joy.  We  thank  Thee  that  our 
essential  self  nothing  can  touch,  that  our 
spiritual   part   is   above   all   harm,   hid  in  God. 

For  all  the  schooling  of  this  life  we  thank 
Thee  ;  save  us  from  being  defeated  and  damaged 
by  those  very  ingredients  in  our  lot  which 
Thou  meanest  for  our  training.  May  no  ex- 
perience make  us  uncharitable,  self-engrossed, 
contemptuous,   but   may  it   rather  lead    us    to 

Footsteps.  113  I 


TRUE  MANHOOD 

a    deeper  penitence,   a  more  assured  trust    in 
Thee. 

Save  us  from  finding  hoUowness  in  our  own 
hearts  and  monotony  and  weariness  in  life. 
May  we  have  within  us  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  to  everlasting  life. 


114 


THIRTY-NINTH   SUNDAY 

IN  GOD'S  WILL  OUR  PEACE 

"The  world  passeth  away  and  the  lust  thereof;  but  he 
that  doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth  for  ever."— 1  John  ii.  17. 

"  In  His  will  is  our  tranquillity." 

/~\NE  has  no  words  to  express  what  it  must 
^-"^  have  been  to  Joseph  to  see  his  fellow- 
prisoner  have  his  dreams  so  gladly  and 
speedily  fulfilled,  while  he  himself,  who  had  so 
long  waited  on  the  true  God,  was  left  waiting 
still,  and  now  so  utterly  unbefriended  that 
there  seemed  no  possible  \7ay  of  ever  connect- 
ing himself  with  the  world  outside  the  prison 
walls.  Being  pressed  thus  for  an  answer  to 
the  question,  What  does  God  mean  to  make  of 
my  life?  he  was  brought  to  see  and  to  hold 
as   the   most  important  truth  for  him  that  the 

115 


IN  GOD'S  WILL  OUR  PEACE 

first  concern  is  that  God's  purposes  be  accom- 
plished, the  second  that  his  own  dreams  be 
fulfilled.  He  was  enabled  to  put  God  truly  in 
the  first  place,  and  to  see  that  by  forwarding 
the  interests  of  other  men  he  might  be  as 
serviceably  furthering  the  purposes  of  God 
as  if  he  were  furthering  his  own  interests. 
He  was  compelled  to  seek  for  some  principle 
that  would  sustain  and  guide  him  in  the 
midst  of  much  disappointment  and  perplexity, 
and  he  found  it  in  the  conviction  that  the 
essential  thing  to  be  accomplished  in  this 
world  and  to  which  every  man  must  lay  his 
shoulder  is  God's  purpose.  Let  that  go  on, 
and  all  else  that  should  go  on  will  go  on. 
And  he  further  saw  that  he  best  fulfils  God's 
purpose  who,  without  anxiety  and  impatience, 
does  the  duty  of  the  day,  and  gives  himself 
without  stint  to  the  "charities  that  soothe 
and  heal  and  bless." 


116 


PRAYER 

We  thank  Thee  for  the  patience  with  which 
Thy  lessons  are  given  and  Thy  purposes  in- 
dicated. Help  us  better  to  understand  that 
Thou  hast  put  each  of  us  in  the  place  where 
Thou  meanest  us  to  carry  on  Thy  work. 
Help  us  to  realise  the  dignity  of  being  fellow- 
workers  with  Christ,  and  that  Thou  hast 
given  us  a  special  work  to  do  for  Thee.  Help 
us  ever  to  seek  first  the  things  of  Thy  king- 
dom and  keep  us  from  allowing  any  plan  of 
our  own  to  interfere  with  Thy  good  and  holy 
will  concerning  us.  May  we  ever  find  our 
chief  joy  in  doing  Thy  will,  and  more  and 
more  may  we  feel  the  love  of  Christ  con- 
straining us. 


117 


FORTIETH    SUNDAY 

"OCCUPY  TILL  I  COME" 

"Occupy  till  I  come." — Luke  xix.  13. 

"  Grant  us  such  grace  that  we  may  work  Thy  will, 
And  speak   Thy  words  and  walk  before  Thy  face, 
Profound  and  calm  like  waters  deep  and  still — 
Grant  us  such  grace." 

XXTE  are  not  to  wait  until  we  can  do 
things  on  a  great  scale,  and  attack  the 
evils  of  human  life  with  elaborate  machinery. 
Our  Lord  was  not  a  great  organiser.  He  did 
not  busy  Himself  with  forming  societies  for 
this,  that,  and  the  other  charitable  work,  but 
"  as  He  passed  by "  He  saw  one  blind  man, 
and  judged  this  a  call  sufficiently  urgent. 
Sometimes  we  feel  that,  confronted  as  we  are 
with    a   whole    world   full   of    deep-rooted   and 

118 


"OCCUPY  TILL  I  COME" 

inveterate  evils,  it  is  useless  giving  assistance 
to  an  individual  here  and  there.  It  is  like 
trying  to  dry  up  the  ocean  with  a  sponge. 
But  we  shall  never  do  our  part,  either  to 
individuals  or  on  a  large  scale,  until  we 
apprehend  that  it  is  only  through  us  and 
others  that  God  works,  and  that  when  we 
pass  by  a  needy  person  we  prevent  God's  love 
from  reaching  him,  and  disappoint  the  purpose 
of  God.  It  was  this  feeling  that  imparted  to 
Christ  so  intense  and  wakeful  an  energy.  He 
felt  it  was  God's  work  He  was  on  earth  to 
do.  "  I  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that 
sent  Me,  while  it  is  day."  He  recognised  that 
God  was  in  the  world,  looking  with  com- 
passion on  all  human  sorrow,  but  that  this 
compassion  could  find  expression  only  through 
His  own  instrumentality  and  that  of  all  other 
men.  We  are  but  the  channel  through  which 
the  inexhaustible  source  of  God's  goodness 
flows  to  the  world  ;  but  it  is  in  our  power  to 
turn  off  that  flow  and  prevent  its  reaching 
those  for  whom  it  was  intended.  We  do  less 
than   we   ought   for   our   fellow-men   until   we 

119 


"OCCUPY  TILL  I  COME" 

believe  that  we  are  the  bearers  of  God's  gifts 
to  men,  and  that  to  however  few  in  number 
and  in  however  small  a  way  we  are  the 
media  through  which  God  finds  way  for  His 
love  to  men,  and  that  if  we  refuse  to  do  what 
we  can  we  disappoint  and  thwart  His  love 
and  His  purpose  of  good. 


Prayer 

Help  us  to  live  as  those  who  know  that 
they  are  redeemed  with  the  precious  blood  of 
Christ,  and  as  those  whom  Thou  hast  chosen 
for  Thy  service.  O  God,  save  us  from  the  sin 
of  leaving  Christ's  cause  to  perish  through  our 
neglect.  Oh,  give  us  more  of  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  Help  us  to  walk  more  closely  in  the 
footsteps  of  our  Master,  ever  doing  Thy  will, 
ever  ready  to  do  good  as  Thou  givest  us 
opportunity. 


120 


FORTY-FIRST    SUNDAY 

THE    BREAD    OF    LIFE— GOD    SHARING 
WITH    US 

"  The  Bread  of  Life."— John  vi.  35. 

•'  Lord,  evermore  give  us  this  bread."— John  vi.  34. 

r  I  iHE  same  law  seems  to  hold  good  of  our 
physical  and  of  our  spiritual  life.  We 
cannot  sustain  physical  life  except  by  using 
as  food  that  which  has  been  alive.  The  nutri- 
tive properties  of  the  earth  and  the  air  must 
have  been  assimilated  for  us  by  living  plants 
and  animals  before  we  can  use  them.  And  so 
with  spiritual  nutriment.  Abstract  truth  we 
can  make  little  of  at  first  hand;  it  needs  to 
be  embodied  in  a  living  form  before  we  can 
live  upon  it.  It  is  when  the  Word  becomes 
flesh,    when    the    hidden    reason    of    all    things 

121 


THE   BREAD   OF  LIFE 

takes  human  form  and  steps  out  on  the  earth 
before  us,  that  truth  becomes  nutritive  and 
God  our  life. 

ExpKcitly  Christ  says :  "  The  bread  which 
I  will  give  is  My  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for 
the  life  of  the  world."  For  it  is  in  this  great 
act  of  dying  that  He  becomes  the  Bread  of 
Life.  God  sharing  with  us  to  the  uttermost ; 
God  proving  that  His  will  is  our  righteous- 
ness ;  God  bearing  our  sorrows  and  our  sins ; 
God  coming  into  our  human  race,  and  be- 
coming a  part  of  its  history — all  this  is  seen 
in  the  Cross  of  Christ ;  but  it  is  also  seen 
that  absolute  love  for  men  and  absolute 
submission  to  God  were  the  moving  forces 
of  Christ's  life.  He  was  obedient  even  unto 
death.  This  was  His  life,  and  by  the  Cross 
He  made  it  ours.  The  Cross  subdues  our 
hearts  to  Him,  and  gives  us  to  feel  that  self- 
sacrifice  is   the   true  life   of  man. 


122 


PRAYER 

We  seek  to  worship  Thee  in  simplicity 
through  Jesus  Christ,  accepting  Him  as  the 
image  of  the  invisible  God,  the  true  revealer 
of  Thee  the  Father.  May  we  enter  into  that 
real  communion  with  Him  by  which  we 
become  members  of  Christ.  May  we  feel  this 
unity  to  be  most  real — a  unity  whose  root  is 
love  and  therefore  the  best,  which  is  eternal, 
and  identifies  us  in  all  things  with  Him.  And 
may  we  feel  a  full  and  implicit  trust  in  Thee 
for  the  supply  of  every  want  of  our  souls, 
bodies,   and   spirits. 


123 


FORTY-SECOND    SUNDAY 

THE  BREAD  DISPENSED  THROUGH  OUR 
MEANS 

*'  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give." — Matthew  x.  8. 
"Without  money  and  without  price." — Isaiah  Iv.  1. 

rriHE  life  Christ  gives  is  Himself,  but  He 
gives  it  through  the  instrumentality  of 
men.  The  bread  is  His.  The  disciples  may 
manipulate  it  as  they  will,  but  it  remains 
five  loaves  only.  None  but  He  can  relieve 
the  famishing  multitude.  Still,  not  with  His 
own  hands  does  He  feed  them,  but  through 
the  believing  service  of  the  Twelve.  It  was 
the  natural  and  fit  order  then,  as  it  is  the 
natural  and  fit  order  now,  that  they  who 
themselves  believe  in  the  power  of  the  Lord 
to   feed    the   world    should    be    the    means    of 

124 


BREAD  DISPENSED  THROUGH  OUR  MEANS 

distributing  what  He  gives.  Each  of  the 
disciples  received  from  the  Lord  no  more 
than  would  satisfy  himself,  yet  held  in  His 
hand  what  would  through  the  Lord's  bless- 
ing satisfy  a  hundred  besides.  And  it  is  a 
grave  truth  we  here  meet,  that  every  one 
of  us  who  has  received  life  from  Christ  has 
thereby  in  possession  what  may  give  life  to 
many  other  human  souls.  We  may  give  it 
or  we  may  withhold  it;  we  may  communicate 
it  to  the  famishing  souls  around  us  or  we 
may  hear  unconcerned  the  weary,  heart-faint 
sigh;  but  the  Lord  knows  to  whom  He  has 
given  the  bread  of  life,  and  He  gives  it  not 
solely  for  our  own  consumption  but  for  dis- 
tribution. It  is  not  the  privilege  of  the  more 
enlightened  or  more  fervent  disciple,  but  of  all. 
He  who  receives  from  the  Lord  what  is  enough 
for  himself  holds  the  lives  of  some  of  his  fellows 
in  his  hands. 


125 


PRAYER 

Forgive  us  that,  Thou  having  done  so  much 
for  us  and  so  lavishly  and  ungrudgingly  sacri- 
ficed for  us,  we  should  have  been  so  backward, 
so  timorous,  so  irresponsive.  Forgive  our 
foolishness,  our  carelessness,  about  Thy  pur- 
pose, our  unfaithfulness  to  Thy  interests. 
Forgive  us  that  we  have  come  to  Thee  for 
so  little,  that  we  are  so  different  from  what 
we  might  have  been  if  we  had  taken  Thee 
at  Thy  word  and  believed  that  Thou  wert 
able  to  make  us  partakers  of  Thy  fulness  and 
fellow-workers  with  Thee.  Give  us  a  simpler 
faith,  and  help  us  to  depend  on  Thee  more 
for  all  we  need,  believing  that  it  is  by  Thy 
power  alone  we  can  effect  anything. 


126 


FORTY-THIRD    SUNDAY 


COMING    TO    CHRIST 


"  Let  him  that  is  athirst  come." — Eevelation  xxii.  17. 
"  Him  that  cometh  to  Me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."- 
JoHN  vi.  37. 


"1  row  are  we  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  life 
that  is  in  Christ?  As  the  Jews  asked, 
How  can  this  man  give  us  His  flesh  to  eat? 
Our  Lord  Himself  uses  several  terms  to  express 
the  acts  by  which  we  make  use  of  Him  as  the 
Bread  of  Life.  "  He  that  believeth  on  Me,"  "  He 
that  cometh  to  Me,"  "He  that  eateth  My  flesh 
and  drinketh  My  blood,  hath  eternal  life."  Each 
of  these  expressions  has  its  own  significance. 
Belief  must  come  first— belief  that  Christ  is 
sent  to  give  us  life;  belief  that  it  depends 
upon  our  connection  with  that  One  Person 
whether  we  shall  or  shall  not  have  life  eternal. 
We  must  also  "  come  to  Him."     The  people  He 

127 


COMING  TO   CHRIST 

was  addressing  had  followed  Him  for  miles,  and 
had  found  Him  and  were  speaking  to  Him,  but 
they  had  not  come  to  Him.  To  come  to  Him  is 
to  approach  Him  in  spirit,  and  with  submissive 
trust;  it  is  to  commit  ourselves  to  Him  as 
our  Lord ;  it  is  to  rest  in  Him  as  our  all ;  it 
is  to  come  to  Him  with  open  heart,  accepting 
Him  as  He  claims  to  be ;  it  is  to  meet  the  eye 
of  a  present,  living  Christ,  who  knows  what  is 
in  man,  and  to  say  to  Him,  "  I  am  Thine,  Thine 
most  gladly,  Thine  for  evermore." 

Prayer 

O  Thou,  who  art  the  God  of  all  grace,  enable 
us  now  to  come  in  simplicity  and  with  all  our 
heart,  to  Thee  who  art  the  Fountain  of  Life. 
Help  us  to  accept  the  life  that  is  offered  to 
us  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  to  realise  the  great 
things  that  are  given  us  in  Him.  Especially 
may  we  believe  that  the  life  He  lived  in  com- 
munion with  Thee  may  be  ours  also,  a  life 
forgiven,  at  peace,  an  energetic  and  hopeful 
fulfilment  of  God's  will. 

128 


FORTY-FOURTH    SUNDAY 

CHRIST  DOES   NOT   COME   TO   THOSE 
WHO   DO   NOT   WAIT   FOR   HIM 


"  If  the  Lord  be  with  us,  why  then  is  all  this  befallen  us  ?  " 
— Judges  vi.  13. 

'•  If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart  the  Lord  will  not  hear." — 
Psalm  kvi.  18. 


/^  IDEON  was  waiting  for  God  to  work  and 
^^  beginning  to  speak  somewhat  bitterly 
of  God's  indifference.  But  how  could  God 
come  to  a  people  who  were  unprepared  to 
receive  Him?  God  was  waiting  for  him  to 
work.  He  was  right  in  arguing,  "  What  God 
was,  He  is ;  why,  then,  does  He  not  do  for  us 
what  He  did  for  our  fathers?"  But  he  was 
wrong  in  thinking  that  the  fault  lay  with 
God,   and   not   with   himself.     Just   so   we    are 

Footsteps.  J29  ^ 


CHRIST  DOES  NOT  COME  TO  THOSE 

right  in  refusing    to    accept  a  religion  which 
makes  no  practical  difference  upon  us ;  but  we 
often  add  to  this  the  mistake  of  Gideon,  and 
fall   out  with   God    for    not    interfering    more 
powerfully  in   our  behalf,  when  it  is  we   our- 
selves who  are  preventing  Him  from  so  inter- 
fering.    You  wait   for   God    to    do    something 
while  He  is  waiting  for  you.     If  you  are  not 
able  to  use  God's  strength,  if  you  might  as  well 
be  heathen  for  all  the  moral  help  you  get  from 
God,  then  depend  upon  it  there  is  something 
wrong  in  your  conduct  towards  God,  some  plam 
duty  you  are  neglecting. 


Prayer 

Forgive  us  our  misspent  time,  our  wasted 
energy,  as  we  let  week  after  week  and  year 
after  year  pass  without  making  the  changes 
we  own  to  be  necessary.  Deliver  us  from  the 
idle  persuasion  that  we  may  neglect  the  means 
of  grace,  and  Thy  calls,  and  Thy  love  without 
doing  ourselves  any  serious  injury.  We  thank 
Thee   that  Thou  hast  made  Thyself  the   great 

130 


WHO  DO  NOT  WAIT  FOR  HIM 

necessity  to  us  ;  that  Thou  hast  made  us  so 
that  we  cannot  do  our  duty  to  Thee  without 
first  being  the  objects  of  Thy  love ;  that  Thou 
hast  as  our  faithful  Creator  bound  Thyself  to 
give  us  many  blessings,  to  cherish  us  with  Thy 
love.  We  believe  that  in  Jesus  Christ  Thou 
hast  given  us  Thy  best  and  what  is  best  for  us ; 
we  believe  that  for  our  salvation  and  for  our 
guidance  and  peace  in  life  and  for  our  spiritual 
well-being  we  need  no  more  than  is  already 
given  in  Him. 


131 


FORTY-FIFTH    SUNDAY 

HOW  WE   MAY  HELP  MEN 

"  Chosen  that  ye  may  bring  forth  fruit." 

"  So  did  I  win  a  kingdom — share  my  crown, 
A  harvest— come  and  reap." 

/^  HRIST  represented  the  Father  not  mechani- 
^^  cally,  not  by  getting  well  off  by  rote  the 
task  His  Father  had  set  Him,  not  by  a  studied 
imitation,  but  by  being  Himself  of  one  mind 
with  the  Father,  by  loving  a  blind  man,  for 
instance,  just  as  the  Father  loved  him  and  by 
doing  for  him  just  what  the  Father  would 
have  done  for  him.  We  do  the  works  of 
God  when  in  our  measure  we  do  the  same, 
becoming  eyes  to  the  blind,  feet  to  the  lame, 
help  any  way  to  the  helpless.  We  cannot  lay 
our    hand    on    the    diseased    and    help    them, 

132 


HOW  WE   MAY  HELP  MEN 

we  cannot  give  sight  to  the  blind  and 
make  a  man  thus  feel,  "This  is  God's  power 
reaching  to  me;  this  is  God  stooping  to  me 
and  caring  for  my  infirmity"  ;  but  we  can  cause 
men  to  feel  that  God  is  thinking  of  them, 
and  has  sent  help  through  us  to  them.  If 
we  will  only  be  humble  enough  to  run  the 
risk  of  failure,  and  of  being  held  cheap,  if 
we  will  only  in  sincerity  take  by  the  hand 
those  who  are  ill-off  and  strive  to  better 
them,  then  these  persons  will  think  of  God 
gratefully,  or  if  they  do  not,  there  is  no  better 
way  of  making  them  think  of  God ;  for  it  was 
Christ's  way,  who  had  rarely  need  to  add 
much  explanation  of  His  kind  deeds,  but, 
letting  them  speak  for  themselves,  heard  the 
people  giving  God  the  glory.  If  men  can  be 
induced  to  believe  in  the  love  of  their  fellow- 
men,  they  are  well  on  the  road  to  believe  in 
the  love  of  God.  And  even  though  it  should 
not  be  so,  though  all  oitr  endeavours  to  help 
men  should  fail  to  make  them  think  of  God 
as  their  helper.  Who  has  sent  us  and  all 
help   to  them,  yet  we  have  helped   them,  and 

133 


HOW  WE    MAY  HELP  MEN 

some  at  least  of  God's  love  for  these  suffer- 
ing people  has  got  itself  expressed  through 
us.  God  has  got  at  least  a  little  of  His 
work  done,  has  in  one  direction  stopped  the 
spread  of  evil. 


Prayer 

O  Thou  who  didst  come  not  be  ministered 
unto  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  Thy  life  a 
ransom  for  many,  may  we  be  willing  to  be 
as  Thou  wert  in  the  world,  and  be  ready  for 
every  service  to  which  Thou  mayest  call  us. 
Save  us  from  making  our  own  comfort  a  chief 
aim  in  life.  Give  us  light,  and  enable  us  so 
to  walk  in  Thy  light  that  men  shall  see  our 
good  works  and  glorify  our  Father  which  is 
in  heaven. 


134 


FORTY-SIXTH    SUNDAY 

NEWNESS  OF  LIFE 

-He  satisfieth  the  longing  soul,  and  filleth  the  hungry  soul 
with  goodness."— Psalm  cvii.  9. 

HOW   are   we   to   receive  newness   of  life? 
Are     we     not     labouring     under     some 
mistake  about  the  way  in  which  we  may  be- 
come   holy,    or    how    is    it  that,  being    fairly 
sincere  in  our  desires   to  live  better,  we  make 
so  little  of  it?    The  new  life  becomes  ours  by 
partaking  of  Christ.     It  is  He  that  is  made  to 
us  sanctification.     It  is  His  life  that  is  to  flow 
and  live  in  us.     He  is  the  nourishment  of  our 
spirits.     And,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  only  a 
small   number   of    Christians   believe   this,   and 
prefer   trying   all   other   kinds   of   nourishment 
for  their  souls.     But  God  brings  us  ever   back 

135 


NEWNESS  OF  LIFE 

to  the  truth.  Here  is  Christ,  He  says,  accept 
Him  and  be  strong.  The  bread  we  eat  becomes 
assimilated  to  us,  enters  into  our  blood,  and 
strengthens  the  different  parts  of  our  body. 
Thus  is  Christ  to  be  adopted  and  assimilated 
by  our  spirit,  and  in  every  part  of  our  nature 
He  produces  strength.  And  when  we  feel  weak, 
when  bad  blood  shows  itself  in  us,  when  disease 
begins  we  must  come  back  and  feed  on  Christ 
anew  (Rom.  vi.  4). 


Prayer 

We  come  to  Thee  with  our  needs,  believing 
that  Thou  art  able  to  do  for  us  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  can  ask  or  think. 
We  pray  Thee  to  make  us  new  creatures  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Give  us  a  keener  sense  of  our 
oneness  with  Christ,  that  our  safety  depends 
on  a  living  personal  union  with  Christ,  that 
because  He  lives  we  shall  live  also.  We  thank 
Thee  for  the  assurance  this  brings  vis  that  one 
day  we  shall  be  holy  as  Thou  art  holy ;  if  when 
we   were   enemies   we   were   reconciled  to  God 

136 


NEWNESS   OF  LIFE 

by   the   death   of    His  Son,   much   more    being 
reconciled  we  shall  be  saved  by  His  life. 

Thou  hast  given  us  Thy  Son  as  the  great 
foundation  and  earnest  and  treasury  of  eternal 
and  unbounded  provision.  If  any  of  us  are 
tried  in  the  matters  of  this  life,  teach  us  that 
as  Thou  hast  given  us  the  true  Bread  from 
heaven,  much  more  wilt  Thou  give  us  daily 
bread. 


137 


FORTY-SEVENTH    SUNDAY 

CALLED  WITH  A  HOLY  CALLING 

"  Hath  He  marks  to  lead  me  to  Him, 
If  He  be  my  Guide? 
In  His  feet  and  hands  are  wound-prints, 
And  His  sidel" 


D 


O   we  value  purity  and  the  knowledge  of 
God   at  the  price   God  has  paid  for  it? 
Who  would  say  from  our  careful  guarding  of 
purity  of    character,   who   would    reckon  from 
our    jealous    watchfulness     against    false    and 
weakening  views  of  God  that  toe  held  in   such 
high  esteem  what  has  thus  been  purchased  for 
us?     One  would   suppose   that  when  we  have 
been  taught  by  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  the  value 
God    sets   upon  holiness  in  us,   we    should    be 
found  living  in  fear  of  contagion  from  the  evil 
of  the  world  and   counting   ourselves   of   some 

138 


CALLED  WITH  A  HOLY  CALLING 

value.  But  is  it  so?  Have  we,  in  making  up 
our  minds  as  to  our  intercourse  with  the  world, 
brought  this  element  into  consideration — that 
our  purity  is  a  thing  of  exceeding  value  in 
God's  sight,  for  which  He  has  made  great 
sacrifices  ? 

Prayer 

We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  revealed  Thy 
love  to  us  as  redeeming  love,  saving  us  from 
all  that  debases  and  cleansing  us  from  all 
defilement.  Help  us  to  see  in  the  death  of 
our  Redeemer  what  an  evil  thing  sin  is.  We 
desire  to  be  of  the  same  mind  as  Christ  in 
this  matter  of  sin,  so  that  as  He  was  willing 
to  give  His  life  that  sin  might  be  destroyed, 
we  may  be  willing  to  yield  our  lives  rather 
than  increase  it.  We  thank  Thee  that  out  of 
our  sinful  state  Thy  wisdom  and  mercy  have 
brought  a  greater  glory  to  Thee,  a  richer 
blessedness  to  ourselves,  than  if  we  had  not 
sinned. 

May  we  have  clearer  views  of  Thy  holiness, 
and  see  more  distinctly  how  it  bears  upon  ours, 

139 


CALLED   WITH  A  HOLY  CALLING 

remembering  that  Thou  callest  us  to  be  one 
with  Thee,  and  that  Thou  givest  us  Thy  Holy- 
Spirit.  We  thank  Thee  that  we  are  not  more 
bound  to  be  holy  than  Thou  art  to  make  us 
holy.  Show  us  how  we  may  please  Thee  better, 
and  help  us  to  choose  before  all  things  to  be 
faithful  to  Thee. 


140 


FORTY-EIGHTH    SUNDAY 

"I  AM  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD" 

"  I  am  the  Light  of  the  world," — John  viii.  12. 
"  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world." — Matthew  v.  14. 
"  Shine  as  lights." — Philemon  ii.  15. 

TF  we  wish  to  shine  so  as  to  help  and  guide 
others,  if  we  see  the  need  of  being  and 
doing  more  than  hitherto,  then  what  we 
must  in  the  first  place  do  is  to  allow  our- 
selves to  be  so  swayed  by  Christ  as  to  be 
drawn  into  true  sympathy  with  the  Father, 
and  to  be  possessed  by  Christ's  views  of  life 
and  by  His  disposition.  In  point  of  fact  it  is 
thus  we  receive  the  Spirit  of  God.  Let  a  man 
recognise  what  life  is  given  him  for,  let  him 
recognise  how  far  short  his  life  has  been  from 
accomplishing  the  great  objects  of  life,  let  him 
in  the  shame  of  having   been  found  unworthy 

141 


"I  AM  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD" 

of  the  trust  God  has  given  him,  and  in  the 
consciousness  of  having  defiled  and  unfitted 
himself  for  God's  service,  turn  to  God  for 
pardon,  cleansing,  and  strength ;  let  him  see 
the  possibilities  of  good  that  remain  to  him, 
let  the  idea  of  a  life  spent  for  God  and  for  good 
possess  him,  and  let  him  believe  Christ's  offer 
to  give  him  such  life,  and  that  man  will  receive 
the  very  strength  he  needs  and  will  yet  shine 
with  the  light  of  Christ. 


Prayer 

Give  us  grace  to  believe  that  in  Thy  service 
is  the  only  true  liberty  of  Thy  creatures,  their 
only  happiness  and  wisdom — that  thou  hast  a 
work  for  each  of  us,  and  that  in  all  that  Thou 
givest  us  to  do  thou  art  ready  to  give  us  all 
needed  strength  and  wisdom.  Even  when 
conscious  that  we  have  unfitted  ourselves  for 
Thy  work,  that  we  are  indeed  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins — yet  we  believe  that  Thou 
canst  vitalise  us,  bringing  us  to  that  real  faith 
in    Christ    and     reliance    on    Him   which    will 

142 


"I  AM  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD" 

make  our  life  one  with  His  life.  Help  us 
so  to  surrender  ourselves  to  Him  that  we 
may  understand  what  it  means  to  have  Christ 
dwelling  in  our  heart  by  faith,  and  may  be 
able  at  last  to  say,  "  The  life  which  I  now  live 
in  the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of 
God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me." 


14.3 


FORTY-NINTH    SUNDAY 

"WHEN    MY  HEART  IS  OVERWHELMED 
WITHIN  ME" 

*'  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  our  strength." — Nbhemiah  viii.  10. 

"  Show  us  that  bright  shore, 
Where  we  weep  no  more." 

~T"  EARN  to  live  with  the  contentment  of 
those  who  have  already  found  their 
portion,  who  see  their  way  now  through 
eternity.  And  at  each  step  of  your  way, 
when  things  are  very  dark  with  you  and 
the  light  has  died  off  from  all  you  took 
pleasure  in,  when  men  are  wondering  how 
they  can  speak  a  word  of  comfort  to  you, 
you  can  still  say,  "The  lines  are  fallen  unto 
me  in  pleasant  places,  yea  I  have  a  goodly 
heritage ! "      You    are   determined   to   read    all 

144 


"WHEN  MY  HEART  IS  OVERWHELMED' 

God's  dealings  with  you  in  the  light  of  His 
prime  gift;  and  you  know  well  enough  that 
the  want  of  some  things  is  a  part  of  the 
"  all  things  "  that  God  bestows.  You  can,  each 
one  of  you,  go  to  God  now  and  say  with  a 
confidence  no  creature  can  challenge,  "Thou 
shalt  guide  me  with  Thy  counsel  and  after- 
ward receive  me  to  glory." 


Prayer 

If  still  we  fear  the  future  and  shrink  from 
what  it  may  bring,  grant  us  so  constant  a 
belief  in  Thy  government  of  all  things,  and 
in  Thy  wise  and  loving  design,  that  we  may 
be  confident  that  the  future  will  help  and 
not  hinder  us  in  good,  and  that  step  by  step 
Thou  art  leading  us  to  the  perfect  experience 
of  Thy  love  and  the  fullest  development  of 
our  own  nature.  Forbid  that  we  should  feel 
as  if  we  had  lost  everything,  or  the  best 
things,  because  we  have  lost  many  of  this 
world's  joys  and  satisfactions. 

May  all  calamity  bring    into    our    hearts    a 

Footsteps.  2^g  ^ 


"WHEN  MY  HEART  IS  OVERWHELMED" 

stronger  faith,  a  more  enduring  patience,  a 
tenderer  sympathy. 

Thou  hast  made  us  so  that  we  crave  for 
joy  ;  fill  us  with  Thy  joy. 

Keep  us  from  shrinking  or  repining  at  the 
trials  or  disappointments  of  life.  Help  us  at 
all  times  and  in  all  circumstances  to  say, 
'  Good  is  the  will  of  the  Lord  concerning 
us."  Whether  Thou  seest  meet  to  send  us 
joy  or  sorrow,  may  we  have  the  assurance 
that  both  come  from  our  Father,  who  knows 
what  is  best  for  us. 


146 


FIFTIETH    SUNDAY 

FIRST  COMMUNION 

"  What  then  ?  For  all  my  sins  His  pardoning  grace, 
For  all  my  wants  and  woes  His  lovingkindness, 
For  darkest  hours  the  shining  of  His  face, 
And  Christ's  own  hand  to  lead  me  in  my  blindness." 

A  RE  you  realising  its  infinite  importance, 
•^^  that  this  Person  who  has  this  day  been 
given  to  you  will  throughout  your  whole 
future  be  giving  you  joy ;  that  He  to  whom 
you  are  now  connected  will  always  henceforth 
claim  you  as  His,  to  defend  you  and  bless 
you,  to  use  you  and  enrich  you.  This  is  to 
be  the  main  thread,  the  grand  element,  of 
all  your  future  history,  that  you  are  con- 
nected with  Christ — it  is  this  that  is  to  regulate 
your  destiny  hereafter,  and  this  that  should 
regulate   your  conduct  here.     Begin,   then,    at 

147 


FIRST  COMMUNION 

once  and  use  Christ.  If  God  has  given  Him 
to  you  to  be  the  closest  and  most  useful  to 
you,  be  simple  with  God  and  accept  this 
His  grace.  Christ  says,  He  is  not  ashamed 
to  call  us  brethren ;  use  Him,  then,  as  you 
would  a  wise  and  loving  brother,  use  Him 
as  one  who  has  grown  up  by  you  and  knows 
you  better  than  you  know  yourself.  Confide 
in  Him,  tell  Him  your  confidences,  let  your 
heart  out  to  Him  in  expressions  of  love  and 
praise,  and  tell  Him  also  when  your  heart  is 
dead  and  dull.  Let  Him  have  reason  to 
know  that  you  prize  His  company,  and  when 
you  seek  intercourse  with  Him  let  Him  see 
that  you  understand  His  grace  and  wealth 
by  the  frankness  of  your  confessions  and 
by  the  greatness  of  your  demands.  Think 
there  is  something  wrong  with  you  when 
you  cannot  lay  your  hand  on  this  and  that, 
and  say,  "This  I  have  because  Christ  loves 
me;  this  is  His  gift;  this  is  His  doing."  Try 
and  win  a  deeper  place  than  common  in  His 
love,  and  resolve  to  show  in  your  case  what 
a  human   soul   may  reach  by  quietly  dwelling 

U8 


FIRST  COMMUNION 

in  the  love  of  Christ,  by  returning  again  and 
again  to  this  thought  that  Christ  died  for 
you  and  is  yours,  until  this  becomes  the 
spring  of  your  life. 


Prayer 

Bring  us  into  closer  and  more  affectionate, 
more  absolutely  confiding,  relations  to  Thee. 
May  we  feel  how  safe  and  blessed  we  are  in 
Thy  keeping  and  under  Thy  government. 
And  may  we  eagerly  accept  Thy  government 
as  that  expression  of  Thy  will  by  which 
Thou  wouldst  lead  us  to  the  highest  good. 
May  we  never  forget  or  lose  sight  of  what 
we  have  in  Him  who  has  loved  usjand  given 
Himself  for  us. 


149 


FIFTY-FIRST    SUNDAY 

"BECAUSE  I  LIVE,  YE  SHALL  LIVE 
ALSO  " 


"  The  faith  of  immortality  depends  on  a  sense  of  it  begotten, 
not  on  an  argument  for  it  concluded." 


TT  was  more  than  ordinary  grief  or  sym- 
pathy that  was  the  fountain  of  the  tears 
of  Jesus.  He  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
mourners,  and  felt  for  them,  but  there  was 
that  in  the  whole  scene  with  which  He  had 
no  sympathy  ;  there  was  none  of  that  feeling 
He  required  His  disciples  to  show  at  His  own 
death,  no  rejoicing  that  one  more  had  gone  to 
the  Father.  There  was  a  forgetfulness  of  the 
most  essential  facts  of  death,  an  unbelief 
which  seemed  entirely  to  separate  this  crowd 
of  wailing  people  from  the  light  and  life  of 
God's  presence.     "  It  was  the  darkness  between 

150 


BECAUSE  I  LIVE,  YE  SHALL  LIVE  ALSO" 

God   and   His    creatures    that    gave   room  for, 
and  was  filled  with,   their  weeping   and  wail- 
ing   over    their    dead."      It    was    the     deepei 
anguish  into   which  mourners  are   plunged  by 
looking     upon     death    as    extinction,    and    by- 
supposing  that  death   separates  from  God  and 
from  life,   instead   of    giving    closer    access   to 
God    and    more     abundant    life— it    was     this 
which   caused  Jesus   to   groan.     He   could    not 
bear  this  evidence  that  even  the  best  of  God's 
children   do    not    believe    in    God    as     greater 
than  death  and  in  death  as  ruled  by  God. 

This  gives  us  the  key  to  Christ's  belief  in 
immortality.  It  was  Christ's  sense  of  God, 
His  uninterrupted  consciousness  of  God,  His 
distinct  knowledge  that  God  the  loving  Father 
is  the  existence  in  Whom  all  live— it  was  this 
which  made  it  impossible  fox  Christ  to  think 
of  death  as  extinction  or  separation  from 
God.  For  one  who  consciously  lived  in  God 
to  be  separated  from  God  was  impossible. 
For  one  who  was  bound  to  God  by  love  to 
drop  out  of  that  love  into  nothingness  or 
desolation    was    inconceivable.       His    constant 

151 


"BECAUSE  I  LIVE,  YE  SHALL  LIVE  ALSO" 

and  absolute  sense  of  God  gave  Him  an  un- 
questioning sense  of  immortality.  If  we  ask 
why  it  was  impossible  He  should  have  any 
shadow  of  doubt  of  a  life  beyond  death,  we 
see  that  it  is  because  it  was  impossible  for 
Him  to  doubt  of  the  existence  of  God,  the 
ever-living,  ever-loving  God. 

Prayer 

O  Lord,  we  know  that  Thou  desirest  to  be 
our  support  and  comfort  in  every  time  of 
our  need  and  sorrow.  Help  us  now  to  admit 
the  comfort  Thy  presence  and  Thy  sympathy 
bring.  In  the  time  of  our  anguish  we  think 
no  comfort  is  possible ;  and  yet  we  would 
acknowledge  that  in  Thy  fatherly  love  Thou 
hast  provided  for  us  relief  and  even  compen- 
sation. Thou  hast  taught  us  to  look  at  life 
and  not  at  death  as  the  eternal  thing. 
Lead  us,  we  now  beseech  Thee,  to  the  Foun- 
tain of  Life. 


152 


FIFTY-SECOND    SUNDAY 


MORTALITY    SWALLOWED    UP    OF    LIFE 


"To  fall  asleep  is  not  to  die  ; 
To  dwell  Avith  Christ  is  better  life.'' 


IT)  ESURRECTION  and  Life  are  not  bless- 
ings laid  up  for  us  in  a  remote  future : 
they  are  present.  When  Jesus  said  to  Martha, 
"Thy  brother  shall  rise  again,"  she  answered, 
"  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the 
resurrection  at  the  last  day,"  meaning  to 
indicate  that  this  was  small  consolation. 
What  comfort  did  the  vague  and  remote  hope 
of  reunion  after  long  ages  of  untold  change 
bring  ?  But  this  is  not  the  comfort  Christ 
gives  Martha.  He  comforts  her,  not  by  point- 
ing her  to  a  far-off  event  which  was  vague 
and   remote,   but    to    His    own    living    person, 

153 


MORTALITY  SWALLOWED  UP  OF  LIFE 

whom  she  knew,  saw,  and  trusted.  And  He 
assured  her  that  in  Him  were  resurrection 
and  life ;  that  all,  therefore,  who  belonged  to 
Him  were  uninjured  by  death,  and  had  in 
Him  a  present  and  continuous  life. 

The  thought  of  immortality  is  with  Christ 
involved  in  and  absorbed  by  the  thought  of 
life.  Life  is  a  present  thing,  and  its  continu- 
ance a  matter  of  course.  It  is  life,  therefore, 
rather  than  immortality  Christ  speaks  of. 
Eternal  life  He  defines,  not  as  a  future  con- 
tinuance to  be  measured  by  ages,  but  as  a 
present  life  to  be  measured  by  its  depth. 
Life  prolonged  without  being  deepened  by 
union  with  the  living  God  were  no  boon. 
Life  with  God  and  in  God  must  be  immortal ; 
life  without  God  He  does  not  call  life  at  all. 

In  evidence  of  this  present  continued  life 
Lazarus  was  called  back  and  shown  to  be 
still  alive.  In  Him  the  truth  of  Christ's 
words  was  exemplified :  "  He  that  belie veth  in 
Me,  though  he  were  dead  yet  shall  he  live ; 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me 
shall  never  die."     Dissolution  may  pass  on  his 

154 


MORTALITY  SWALLOWED  UP  OF  LIFE 

body,  but  not  on  his  life.  His  life  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God  ;  it  is  united  to  the  unfailing 
Source  of  all  existence. 


Prayer 

O  Thou  who  art  the  Resurrection  and  the 
Life,  in  Whom  whosoever  believeth  shall  live 
though  he  die,  lead  us  to  that  vital  and  satis- 
fying connection  with  Thee  which  shall  give 
us  the  victory  over  death.  Thou  settest  Thy- 
self before  us  as  our  Life.  Lord,  help  us  to 
find  our  life  in  Thee, 


155 


FIFTY-THIRD    SUNDAY 


VICTORY  OVER  DEATH 


"All  journeys  end  in  welcome  to  the  weary, 
And  heaven,  the  heart's  true  home,  will  come  at  last." 


"T^EATH  is  a  subject  of  universal  concern. 
"^"^^  Every  man  must  have  to  do  with  it, 
and  in  its  presence  every  man  feels  his  help- 
lessness. Nowhere  do  we  so  come  to  the  limit 
and  end  of  our  power  as  at  the  door  of  a 
vault.  There  is  the  clay,  but  who  shall  find 
the  spirit  that  dwelt  in  it  ?  Jesus  has  no 
such  sense  of  weakness.  Believing  in  the 
fatherly  and  undying  love  of  the  Eternal 
God,  He  knows  that  death  cannot  harm,  still 
less  destroy,  the  children  of  God.  In  this 
belief  He  commands  back  to  the  body  the 
soul  of  Lazarus  ;  through  the  ear  of  that  dead 

156 


VICTORY   OVER  DEATH 

and  laid-aside  body  He  calls  to  His  friend,  and 
bids  him  from  the  unseen  world.  Surely  we 
also  may  say,  with  Himself,  we  are  glad  that 
He  was  not  with  Lazarus  in  his  sickness,  that 
we  might  have  this  proof  that  not  even  death 
carries  the  friend  of  Christ  beyond  His  reach 
and  power. 

There  is  no  one  who  can  afford  to  look  at 
this  scene  with  indifference.  We  have  all  to 
die,  to  sink  into  utter  weakness  past  all 
strength  of  our  own,  past  all  friendly  help  of 
those  around  us.  It  must  always  remain  a 
trying  thing  to  die.  And  if  it  is  really  true 
that  Jesus  did  raise  Lazarus,  then  a  world  of 
depression  and  fear  and  grief  is  lifted  off  the 
heart  of  man.  That  very  assurance  is  given 
to  us  which  we  most  of  all  need.  If  Christ 
raised  Lazarus,  He  has  a  power  to  which  we 
can  safely  trust,  and  life  is  a  thing  of  per- 
manence and  joy. 


157 


PRAYER 

For  every  sorrowful  and  burdened  spirit  we 
pray,  for  all  who  leave  behind  them  in  newly- 
made  graves  former  loved  companions,  and 
much  of  the  joy  and  hope  of  life,  that  they 
may  see  more  clearly  that  our  true  home  is 
in  the  unseen,  and  may  flee  for  refuge  and 
comfort  to  the  Forerunner  who  for  us  has 
entered  within  the  veil.  In  every  death  may 
we  see  the  fulfilment  of  Thy  promise,  "I  will 
come  again  and  receive  you  unto  Myself." 


"  Oh,  what  is  death  ?    'Tis  life's  last  shore, 
Where  vanities  are  vain  no  more, 
Where  all  pursuits  their  goal  obtain, 
And  life  is  all  retouched  again," 


158 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


0  Lord,  we  thank  Thee  for  this  day  :  it  is  Thy  gift 
— it  is  made  for  man  and  secured  to  us  by  events 
that  humble  us  and  make  us  thankful.  We  would 
use  it  as  in  the  presence  of  Him  who  died  and  rose 
again  for  us  ;  we  would  use  it  gratefully,  seriously, 
hopefully.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  made 
Thyself  the  great  necessity  to  us,  that  Thou  hast 
made  us  so  that  we  cannot  do  our  duty  to  Thee 
without  first  being  the  objects  of  Thy  love  ;  that 
Thou  hast  as  our  faithful  Creator  bound  Thyself  to 
give  us  many  blessings,  to  cherish  us  with  Thy  love. 
We  believe  that  in  Jesus  Christ  Thou  hast  given  us 
Thy  best  and  what  is  best  for  us  :  we  believe  that 
in  Him  the  salvation  of  all  who  believe  is  secure, 
and  that  for  our  guidance  and  peace  in  life,  and  for 
our  proper  spiritual  wellbeing  we  need  no  more  than 
is  already  given  in  Him.  We  thank  Thee  for  such 
beginnings  of  love  to  Christ  as  we  have,  and  we  pray 
that  our  love  may  grow.   May  it  be  as  cordial  and  true. 

Footsteps.  JgJ  M 


PULPIT   PRAYERS 

as  joyful  and  fruitful,  as  our  love  to  any  one  now  on 
earth.  And  desiring  as  we  do  to  love  Christ,  may  we  be 
disposed  to  do  all  that  is  likely  to  increase  our  love — 
may  we  be  much  with  Him,  may  we  do  much  for  Him 
May  our  hearts  be  so  wholly  won  by  Him  that  it  shall 
be  our  joy  to  serve  Him,  even  in  circumstances  not  in 
themselves  joyful.  Thou  hast  made  us  so  that  we 
crave  for  joy — fill  us  with  Thy  joy.  Establish  us  in 
the  belief  of  Thy  perfect  righteousness,  that  what  is 
right  Thou  hast  ever  done  and  wilt  ever  do,  that 
none  of  Thy  works  has  been  short  of  perfectly  holy, 
that  nothing  has  been  omitted  by  Thee  which  could 
have  conferred  greater  blessedness  on  Thy  creatures. 
Enable  us  to  believe  that  Thou  rulest  and  that  as 
Thy  sceptre  is  a  right  sceptre  happiness  and  well- 
being  shall  endure  if  we  be  on  Thy  side,  misery  and 
evil-doing  pass  away.  Show  us  how  we  may  please 
Thee  better,  and  help  us  to  choose  before  all  things 
to  be  faithful  to  Thee. 


II 


0  Lord,  who  alone  knowest  what  is  right  to  be  thought 
concerning  Thee,  and  who  canst  alone  teach  them  who 
are  ignorant  and  out  of  the  way,  grant  to  us  now 
Thy  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  revela- 
tion in  the  knowledge  of  Thee.  Remove  and  keep  far 
from  us  all  misconceptions  of  Thy  character,  all  mis- 

162 


PULPIT   PRAYERS 

understandings  of  Thy  purpose  regarding  us  and  of 
Thy  dealings  with  us,  that  we   may   be  altogether 
satisfied  with  Thee  for  our  portion  and  be  thoroughly 
humbled  before   Thy   goodness.     Grant   us   a   deeper 
sense,  a  clearer  knowledge,  an  adoring  spirit.     Show 
us  something  of  Thy  wealth,  and  something  of  Thy 
willingness    to    give,    that    we  may   understand  the 
importance   of   Thy  gifts  and    the    grace    of    Thine 
offers.     We  acknowledge  the  riches  of  Thy  promises, 
that  they  are  exceeding  great  and  precious,  that  when 
we  have  sunk  to  our  worst  and  deepest  we  could  not 
find  place  for  despair.     Thy  promise  has   still   been 
with  us— rich,  full,  free,  clear,  inevitable.    When  our 
thoughts  have  risen  to  the  highest  heaven   and   our 
hopes  done  their  utmost,  we  have  not  exceeded  nor 
surpassed  Thy  promise.     And  in  the  goodness  already 
enjoyed  we   see    earnest    of    the  fulfilment   of   Thy 
promises.     Thou  hast  been  ever  with  us  as  if,  forgetful 
of  all  else,  we  only  had  been  the  objects  of  Thy  care  ; 
Thou  hast  daily  loaded  us  with  appropriate  benefits  as 
if  none  else  were  receiving  at  Thy  hand  ;  Thou  hast 
led  us  by  a  way  suited  to  our  character  as  if  our 
interests  only  had  been  considered.    We  thank  Thee 
that  Thou  wilt  not  be  content  with  anything  that  does 
not  perfectly  fulfil  Thy  perfect  love  and  purpose.   Oh, 
help  us  so  truly  to  believe  this  that  we  shall  feel  our 
life  encompassed  by  Thee,  that  we  shall  at  all  times 
feel  the  blessedness  of  dependence  on  Thee.     May  our 

163 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

trust  in  Thee  be  so  real  that  we  shall  set  about 
carrying  out  in  our  daily  life  those  thoughts  and 
plans  and  purposes  which  Thy  promises  beget  in  us. 


Ill 


0  Lord,  reform  our  wills,  we  beseech  Thee,  and  purify 
our  desires,  that  when  we  pray  to  Thee  we  may  not 
merely  ask  Thee  for  things  which  we  know  we 
ought  to  desire,  but  for  things  which  are  ever  floating 
before  our  hopes  and  drawing  forth  our  affections 
and  our  efforts,  that  thus  our  hearts  may  not  con- 
demn us  and  that  we  may  have  confidence  before 
Thee. 

We  cannot  command  Thy  presence  among  us,  but 
Thou  hast  said,  "  Seek  ye  My  face,"  and  to  none  hast 
Thou  said  "  Seek  ye  Me  "  in  vain  ;  we  cannot  command 
our  hearts  to  awake  to  the  glory  of  Thy  Spirit's 
operation,  nor  command  that  operation,  but  we  come 
expecting  His  promised  aid.  Grant  us,  0  Lord,  the  ful- 
ness of  His  gracious  working,  unlimited  by  our  half- 
heartedness,  unmarred  by  our  wanderings  of  thought 
and  affection.  Cast  us  not  from  Thy  presence,  0 
God,  nor  take  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  us.  Our  hope 
is  in  Thee  and  all  our  expectation.  We  are  poor, 
do  Thou  enrich  us  ;  empty,  do  Thou  fill  us  with 
Thy  goodness  ;  guilty  and  wicked,  do  Thou  forgive 

164 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

and  purify.  We  desire  this  day  to  see  more  of  Thy 
goodness,  to  realise  more  of  Thy  power  to  bless. 
May  all  the  blessings  of  Thy  salvation  be  ours  this 
day,  and  may  the  comfort  of  Thy  word  prevail  in 
us  against  all  fears  and  doubts,  against  the  temp- 
tations of  Satan,  against  the  reproaches  of  the 
world. 

Help  us  to  master  our  own  spirits,  to  repress  and 
eradicate  all  evil  tendencies,  all  discontent  and  envy, 
all  lust  of  the  world  and  pride  of  life,  all  sloth  and 
fear  and  vanity,  and  every  kind  of  weakness.  Deliver 
us  from  sins  and  vices  that  keep  us  on  a  low  level 
of  character  and  life,  and  prevent  us  from  being  of 
much  use  in  the  world.  May  we  be  more  alive  to 
the  fact  that  we  have  this  work  to  do.  Give  us 
pure,  loving,  hopeful  thoughts,  and  let  not  our  hearts 
be  filled  with  selfish,  unholy,  and  foolish  imaginings. 
May  we  suffer  our  whole  life  to  be  penetrated  and 
governed  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ. 


IV 


Lord,  help  us  to  come  before  Thee  carefully,  know- 
ing how  great  are  the  things  we  may  ask  of  Thee,  and 
how  much  it  concerns  us  to  receive  them.  We  thank 
Thee  that  Thy  goodness  has  created  us  capable  of 
becoming  Thy  children,  that  this    life   may  become 

165 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

to  us  the  foundation  of  a  perfect  blessedness,  the 
beginning  of  an  unending  and  incorrupt  existence. 
We  desire  to  come  to  Thee,  remembering  the  great 
realities  which  have  been  enacted  for  this  end.  We 
thank  Thee  for  all  we  have  without  our  asking,  and 
which  no  effort  of  ours  could  have  brought  us.  We 
thank  Thee  for  our  creation,  for  the  finished  work 
of  Christ. 

We  seek  to  place  our  life  on  a  Christian  founda- 
tion— to  be  more  one  with  Christ.  We  do  indeed 
desire  that  our  hearts  may  be  wholly  at  one  with 
Jesus  Christ,  that  He  may  find  pleasure  in  us  and 
see  in  us  of  the  travail  of  His  soul.  We  are  ashamed 
that  we  should  have  cared  so  little  for  these  spirits 
of  ours,  for  which  Thou  hast  cared  so  constantly  and 
tenderly  and  for  which  Thou  hast  sacrificed  so 
dearly.  We  have  not  been  diligent  in  the  use  of 
the  means  Thou  hast  provided,  and  when  we  have 
too  often  we  were  trusting  more  to  them  than 
to  Thy  Spirit.  We  have  not  yielded  ourselves 
to  the  influences  of  Thy  Spirit ;  we  have  counted 
it  a  hard  thing  to  be  as  Christ  was  in  this  world, 
and  have  reckoned  that  the  disciple  should  be 
above  the  Master  —  have  been  far  from  sacrificing 
our  own  to  the  good  of  others,  far  from  letting 
their  necessities  frame  and  guide  our  lives  from  day 
to  day.  We  are  very  different  from  what  we  might 
have    been    had    we    been  considerate    and    walked 

166 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

wisely — had  we  been  penitent  and  walked  carefully 
and  severely — had  we  been  grateful  and  walked 
obediently — had  we  been  faithful  and  walked  trust- 
fully, had  we  been  willing  and  waiting  to  receive 
as  Thou  hast  been  willing  and  waiting  to  give — 
had  we  spent  in  Thy  service  the  time  and  strength, 
the  thought  and  effort,  we  have  spent  on  what  has 
all  passed  away  and  what  we  can  only  remember  to 
reproach  ourselves  with.  Link  us  to  Thyself,  we 
beseech  Thee,  and  imbue  us  with  Thy  Spirit,  that 
our  strongest  desires  may  be  towards  those  very  things 
which  Thou  seekest.  Grant  us  sympathy  with  all 
who  suffer,  compassion  for  all  who  are  weak,  anxiety 
for  those  who  are  out  of  the  way,  charity  towards 
all. 

Help  those  who  are  in  sorrow  to  endure — to  see 
that  there  are  qualities  and  dispositions  which  nothing 
but  sorrow  and  failure  can  work  in  them  ;  to  believe 
that  even  if  their  trouble  is  the  result  of  sin  or  folly 
of  their  own,  yet  Thou  wilt  make  it  work  their  eternal 
good. 

Help  us  to  bear  with  meekness,  with  courage, 
and  with  hopefulness  the  privations,  the  pains,  the 
anxieties,  the  disappointments  of  life.  Enable  us  to 
make  full  use  of  all  Thou  hast  given  us  for  our 
encouragement.  May  we  make  sure  of  Thy  friendship 
and  live  in  the  persuasion  that  our  destiny  depends 
on  Thee  and  not  on  this  world. 

167 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

Save  us  from  the  things  we  fear,  but  if  they 
come  upon  us  grant  us  strength  to  bear  them  with- 
out sinking  under  the  burden. 


V 


0  Lord,  Thou  hast  said  that  if  we  confess  our  sins 
Thou  art  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins 
and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness.  Help 
us,  therefore,  now  to  confess,  sincerely  and  utterly,  as 
those  who  expect  pardon,  not  punishment.  We  acknow- 
ledge that  we  have  lived  as  if  we  had  no  God,  believing 
little,  expecting  little,  loving  little,  obeying  little. 
Especially  we  have  not  believed  that  our  natures 
would  be  changed,  have  believed  often  that  as  we 
have  been  born  so  we  must  remain,  have  become 
resigned  to  our  sins  instead  of  hopefully  striving 
against  them,  and  have  not  counted  that  there  was 
much  concern  with  Thee  whether  we  continued  in 
sin  or  accepted  Thy  salvation.  Thy  will  has  been 
made  known  to  us  and  we  have  seen  every  reason 
for  doing  it,  and  been  offered  sufficient  help  for 
its  performance,  and  yet  we  have  sinned.  Thou 
hast  never  ceased  to  deal  tenderly  with  us,  hast 
shown  us  evidently  the  great  evil  and  folly  of  for- 
saking Thee,  and  yet  we  have  sinned.  Our  own 
desires  have  led  us.     The  most  passing  impulse,  the 

168 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

merest  habit,  has  been  powerful  enough  to  overcome 
our  inclination  to  serve  Thee.  We  have  suffered 
other  persons  and  things  to  usurp  the  place  due  to 
Thee  alone,  and  have  let  Them  regulate  our  conduct, 
sometimes  against  Thy  will,  often  at  least  in  com- 
petition with  Thy  will. 

We  have  sinned  before  others  and  led  them  into 
sin,  from  which  we  cannot  now  reclaim  them  ;  we 
have  missed  opportunities  of  reclaiming  those  we 
might  have  helped.  We  have  sinned  with  others 
and  confirmed  them  in  sin. 

We  would  not  dare  to  come  unto  Thee  unless  we 
knew  that  Thou  hast  prepared  a  way  for  us  and 
bidden  us  come.  If  Thou  wilt  Thou  canst  make  us 
clean.  Remember  not  against  us  former  iniquities ; 
let  Thy  tender  mercies  speedily  prevent  us.  Help 
ns,  0  God  of  our  salvation,  for  the  glory  of  Thy 
Name  ;  deliver  us  and  purge  away  our  sins  for  Thy 
Name's  sake. 

We  thank  Thee  that  the  invitations  of  the  gospel 
do  not  suppose  us  to  be  righteous,  do  not  suppose 
us  to  be  any  better  than  we  actually  are,  but  invite 
us  with  all  our  infirmities,  sins,  inconsistencies,  pro- 
pensities to  evil.  Establish  between  our  souls  and 
Christ  a  fuller  confidence.  May  we  know  more  of 
His  power  to  save  from  sin  ;  may  we  experience 
that  His  salvation  is  a  complete  provision  for  every 
want,  applicable  in  all  circumstances. 

169 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

Forbid  that  we  should  come  to  the  end  of  life  and 
find  that  we  have  done  nothing  for  Christ.  Make 
our  love  for  Him  more  real,  and  give  us  greater 
boldness,  promptitude,  and  wisdom  in  speaking  of 
Him  to  men. 


VI 


0  God,  what  is  man  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  us 
or  the  son  of  man  that  Thou  visitest  us  ?  We  are 
but  of  yesterday,  and  at  our  best  estate  vanity.  We 
have  sinned  also. 

We  have  loved  and  still  incline  to  that  which 
Christ  hated  with  irreconcilable  hatred — our  life  has 
much  been  spent  in  that  which  He  gave  His  life  to 
destroy.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  made  known 
Thy  love  as  redeeming  love,  saving  us  from  all  that 
debases  and  cleansing  from  all  defilement.  We  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  hast  given  us  enough  to  guide  and 
steady  us  in  life,  enough  to  enable  us  to  come  vic- 
torious out  of  all  its  conflicts,  to  save  us  from  its 
moral  defilement,  and  to  uphold  us  in  its  sorrows 
and  disappointments. 

We  recognise  Thy  goodness  in  making  this  the 
promise  which  should  satisfy  all  expectation,  even 
that  Thou  shouldst  dwell  with  men  and  make  of 
us  Thy  peojDle.  We  thank  Thee  that  in  Christ  it  has 
been  fulfilled  more  richly  than  the  most  hopeful  of 

170 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

Thy  people  could  have  anticipated.  And  we  thank 
Thee  that  now  He  has  withdrawn  His  visible  pre- 
sence to  make  room  for  the  Spirit.  May  we  cordially 
believe  that  we  can  find  more  help  in  the  Spirit's 
presence  than  in  the  bodily  presence  of  Christ.  We 
pray  for  Thy  Spirit.  Help  us  to  appreciate  the 
full  joy  of  a  state  in  which  we  are  brought  into 
closest  contact  with  Thee.  May  we  feel  that  no 
higher,  truer  joy  could  be  ofEered,  and  may  we  be 
strengthened  to  choose  this  as  that  which  we  our- 
selves most  earnestly  desire.  Remove  all  miscon- 
ceptions about  Thyself.  Remove  all  love  of  sin. 
Help  us  in  our  own  life  to  realise  the  kingdom  of 
God,  a  state  in  which  we  serve  Thee  wholly.  Let 
not  this  be  a  vision  of  unattainable  goodness,  but 
the  state  we  actually  strive  towards.  Show  us  what 
a  healthy  spiritual  life  is,  and  begin  it  in  ourselves. 
"We  desire  to  thank  Thee  for  the  training  we  receive 
in  this  life  and  the  knowledge  we  acquire  of  the 
great  moral  laws  under  which  human  life  is  placed. 
Help  us  rightly  to  interpret  our  own  experience,  that 
we  may  neither  on  the  one  hand  think  Thy  grace 
is  vain  and  salvation  a  dream,  nor  on  the  other 
hand  be  satisfied  with  the  attainment  we  have 
already  made,  and  suppose  we  have  received  all 
Thy  grace. 


171 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


VII 


0  God,  we  thank  Thee  for  the  light  of  this  new  day, 
and  for  Thy  preserving  care  of  us  during  the  past 
night.  We  have  slept  and  we  have  waked  because 
Thou  hast  sustained  us.  Renew  within  us,  we  pray 
Thee,  earnestness  of  purpose.  Help  us  to  remember 
there  is  a  purpose  in  life.  We  confess  we  have  used 
the  world  for  aims  the  very  opposite  of  those  for 
which  it  was  intended. 

We  who  cannot  comprehend  Thy  nature  have  yet 
judged  Thee,  have  put  our  own  constructions  on  Thy 
dealings,  have  ascribed  to  Thee  the  failings,  the  arti- 
fices, the  evils  of  man.  We,  who  could  not  compre- 
hend Thy  plan  though  it  were  all  revealed,  have 
murmured  and  disputed,  have  not  been  trustful 
children.  We  have  done  this  who  are  of  yesterday, 
and  know  nothing. 

By  Him  whom  Thou  hast  given  as  our  ensample  we 
discern  our  faults.  In  Him  we  see  no  murmuring,  no 
impatience,  no  disobedience,  no  seeking  easy  paths,  no 
indolence,  no  passing  by  of  others'  misery,  no  exulting 
over  others'  sin,  no  attempts  to  reconcile  good  and 
evil.  Help  us  to  become  truly  Christ's  followers. 
Lead  us  to  Him,  teach  us  to  glory  in  Him.  Give  us 
an  increasing  persuasion  of  the  rightness  and  reason- 
ableness of  living  to  Him.  May  our  fellowship 
with  Him  be  more  real,  may  He  be  that  one  who 

172 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

has  most  influence  with  us.  May  we  understand  and 
sympathise  with  His  work  more  and  more.  Help  us 
to  yield  ourselves  to  Him,  to  fall  in  with  Thy  pur- 
pose in  the  world,  and  to  find  our  happiness  in 
accomplishing  it.  Help  us  in  our  efforts  to  live 
righteously  ourselves  and  to  lead  others  to  do  so. 
Give  us  simplicity,  intelligence,  boldness  in  our 
intercourse  with  others.  Disentangle  us  from  dif&- 
culties  about  our  spiritual  state,  that  we  may  be  free 
to  live  a  strong,  influential  Christian  life.  Help  us 
in  the  work  we  undertake,  that  we  may  not  seem  to 
do  no  good  in  the  world  and  to  spend  our  strength 
for  naught.  Direct  our  endeavours  to  what  is  most 
needful,  and  guide  us  to  such  methods  as  are  likely 
to  be  successful.  Help  us  to  believe  that  Thou 
sendest  none  a-warring  on  his  own  charges,  but 
that  Thou  wilt  supply  us  with  the  zeal,  the  charity, 
the  perseverance,  the  wisdom,  that  are  needed. 


VIII 

We  thank  Thee  that  Thou,  the  invisible,  infinite  God, 
hast  in  Jesus  Christ  revealed  Thyself  as  a  Person — 
hast  made  Thyself  accessible  to  us.  We  thank  Thee 
for  the  solace  and  strength  and  hope  Thou  bringest 
to  the  hearts  of  men  by  giving  them  to  know  Thee 
and  to  lean  upon  Thee.     Help  us  to  come  before  Thee 

173 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

with  thankfulness,  with  gladness,  with  expectation, 
with  simplicity,  with  penitence.  Lift  us  out  of 
indifference,  take  away  our  pride,  that  will  not 
submit  to  Thee  till  things  are  as  we  would  have 
them  ;  remove  our  carnality  which  refuses  to  accept 
holiness,  and  makes  us  feel  hypocritical  whenever 
we  ask  Thee  for  it. 

Encourage  us,  help  us  to  think  rightly  of  Thee. 
Increase  our  faith  by  revealing  Thyself  to  us.  Com- 
mand our  thoughts,  and  assert  Thine  authority  and 
prove  Thy  power  over  our  spirits. 

May  holiness  have  a  new  attraction  for  us.  May 
we  see  with  increasing  clearness  the  significance  of 
Christ's  life  and  death,  and  may  there  grow  up 
between  us  and  Him  a  confidence  and  a  friendship 
which  nothing  can  destroy.  "We  have  often  forgotten 
what  we  owe  to  Him,  and  have  lived  as  if  without 
Him  we  could  do  something  and  make  something  of 
life,  as  if  all  His  sacrifice  were  needless,  all  His  inter- 
ference in  vain,  all  His  arrangement  of  His  kingdom 
meaningless.  Enlarge  our  thoughts  of  Thee  and  of 
Thy  purposes.  Let  not  our  life  be  spent  on  frivoli- 
ties, on  self,  but  may  some  good  thing  result  to 
others  from  our  action.  Help  us  to  lead  a  strong, 
upright.  Christian  life,  not  daunted  by  difiQculties, 
not  allured  by  appeals  to  sense,  not  perplexed  by 
needless  scruples.  Thou  knowest  what  is  the  con- 
flict with  each  of  us,  where  the  heat  of  the  battle  is, 

174 


PULPIT   PRAYERS 

where  we  are  really  tempted  and  tried.  Renew  within 
us  day  by  day  earnestness  of  purpose,  and  help  us  to 
cherish  good  aims  until  we  attain  them.  Without 
Thee,  the  perennial  source  of  goodness,  what  could  we 
do  ?  Without  the  living  God,  the  ever-springing, 
eternally  renewed  love  and  purity  superior  to  all 
contempt  and  hatred,  and  all  temptation,  what  could 
we  hope  ?  Our  hope  is  in  Thee.  We  are  unstable, 
but  Thou  art  steadfast  ;  we  are  indifferent,  but  Thou 
art  in  earnest,  as  willing  now  to  fulfil  all  Thy  promises 
as  at  first  to  make  them. 


IX 


0  Lord,  we  desire  to  thank  Thee  for  the  glad  and 
hopeful  thoughts  with  which  we  may  come  into  Thy 
presence,  for  the  change  which  has  been  wrought  in 
our  life  by  the  coming  of  Christ,  for  the  perfect  life 
He  sets  before  us,  and  the  lifting  up  of  our  thoughts  to 
Thee.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  goodness  and  mercy 
which  follow  us,  that  we  can  trust  Thy  goodness 
even  when  its  methods  are  to  us  unintelligible  and 
painful.  We  thank  Thee  for  all  we  have,  as  creatures 
born  into  a  world  full  of  wonders,  adapted  to  our  use 
and  enjoyment,  eliciting  by  the  manifold  relations  of 
life  all  that  is  good  in  us.  We  thank  Thee  for  all 
satisfaction  here  which  opens  the  heart  with  gladness, 

175 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

for  all  dissatisfaction  which  prompts  us  to  value  and 
to  seek  a  life  beyond.  "We  thank  Thee  for  all  among 
us  who  can  say,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul,  who 
forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities,  who  healeth  all  thy 
diseases,  who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction." 
Above  all,  we  thank  Thee  for  Him  in  whom  all  Thy 
promises  are  yea  and  Amen. 

With  so  much  to  gladden,  so  much  to  sustain,  so 
much  to  enlighten,  so  much  to  purify,  we  should  be 
cleansed  and  strengthened.  With  a  God  untempted 
and  untempting,  holy,  living  for  spiritual  ends,  re- 
vealing Himself  to  us  for  our  encouragement,  we 
should  be  holy,  should  see  the  folly  and  hurtfulness 
and  wickedness  of  self-seeking,  of  worldliness,  of  all 
that  defeats  spiritual  purposes. 

And  yet  how  far  we  are  removed  from  the  region  of 
thought  and  feeling  and  purpose  in  which  Christ 
lived  !  How  often  we  are  satisfied  with  mere  ex- 
ternal advantage,  and  take  too  limited  a  view  of  the 
responsibilities  and  of  the  opportunities  afforded  by 
our  position  in  life  !  How  ready  we  are  to  extenuate 
in  ourselves  the  faults  we  condemn  in  others  !  How 
slow  we  are  in  eradicating  our  faults,  how  slow  to 
understand  Thy  purposes,  to  understand  in  how  true 
and  full  a  sense  we  are  Thine  !  We  have  not  trusted 
Thee  nor  shrunk  from  wounding  Thy  fatherly  feeling 
by  coldness,  indifference,  sullen  unbelief. 

But  our  hope  is  still  in  Thee,  and  while  ashamed  we 
176 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

should  have  done  so  little  in  the  past,  we  would  come 
to  Thee  with  hope  as  well  as  with  shame.  May  we  be 
able  truly  to  abide  in  Thee,  that  our  whole  characters 
may  be  transformed,  that  our  wills  may  be  fashioned 
in  accordance  with  Thine. 

Forgive  our  misspent  time,  our  wasted  energy,  and 
help  us  to  redeem  the  time,  and  to  live  such  lives 
as  will  forward  the  coming  of  Thy  kingdom. 


0  Lord,  it  becomes  us  to  approach  Thee  with 
humility.  Our  life  bears  unmistakable  evidence 
that  Thou  hast  not  been  in  all  our  thoughts,  that 
we  have  been  governed  by  unworthy  aims.  We  have 
been  more  afraid  of  poverty  than  of  worldliness,  and 
have  striven  more  for  bodily  comfort  than  for  our 
spiritual  welfare.  Grant  us  true  repentance.  Forgive 
our  slight  apprehension  of  guilt,  and  the  insincerity  of 
our  repentances.  May  we  learn  to  believe  in  Thee  as 
the  truth,  and  to  judge  of  things  as  they  appear  to 
Thee.  May  we  feel  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  be  ashamed 
of  blindly  thwarting  Thy  purposes,  doing  what 
hinders  the  advance  of  good  and  stains  and  de- 
grades our  own  soul.  Forgive  our  many  actual 
transgressions  and  our  habitual  proneness  to  sin. 
May  we  see  that  great  evil  in  sin  which  prompted 

Footstejis.  177  ^ 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

Christ  to  die  to  deliver  us  from  it ;  in  His  in- 
carnation may  we  recognise  the  sincerity  of  His 
sympathy. 

Give  us  more  justly  to  estimate  our  character  and 
life,  and  save  us  from  the  subtle  influences  that  under- 
mine the  character  and  weaken  faith.  We  have  much 
to  contend  with,  and  little  in  ourselves  with  which  to 
maintain  any  steady  conflict.  But  when  we  become 
alarmed  about  our  character,  when  we  begin  to 
wonder  whether  for  us  there  is  any  true  possibility 
of  finding  our  joy  in  holiness  and  self-sacrifice,  enable 
us  to  believe  in  the  reality  and  efficiency  of  Christ's 
salvation.  May  we  be  willing  to  open  our  whole 
nature  to  His  love.  We  come  to  Thee  for  renewal 
and  quickening.  May  none  of  us  feel  it  to  be  enough 
to  know  our  sins  without  strenuously  endeavouring 
to  subdue  them.  May  we  in  no  particular  be  found 
perpetuating  the  wrongs,  the  miseries,  the  falsities,  the 
weakness,  the  vice  which  mar  human  life,  but  may  we 
be  the  instruments  to  forward  its  redemption. 

May  no  experience  through  which  we  pass  blunt 
our  sensibilities  ;  may  none  make  us  uncharitable, 
contemptuous,  self-engrossed,  worldly ;  may  none 
separate  us  from  our  fellows  in  pride  or  hatred. 

Grant  to  all  of  us  more  real  contentment  to  be 
Thy  servants,  more  glad  and  hearty  approval  of  Thy 
will,  more  joy  in  Thy  service. 


178 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


XI 


Thou  hast  made  all  things,  and  for  Thy  plea- 
sure they  are  and  were  created.  Thou  art  our  God 
and  all  that  we  have  is  Thine — our  life,  our  breath, 
and  all  things.  All  station,  influence,  wealth,  ability, 
success,  advantages,  hopes,  all  are  of  Thee.  And  we 
lay  them  at  Thy  feet,  desiring  that  Thou  wouldst 
enable  each  one  of  us,  contradicting  the  dictates  of 
our  own  hearts,  to  consecrate  ourselves  to  Thee  and 
thus  lay  the  right  foundation  for  our  lives.  "We 
thank  Thee  if  Thou  hast  taught  any  of  us  to  live 
cheerfully  and  confidently,  not  because  we  have  so 
much  of  our  own,  but  because  we  are  ourselves 
Thine.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  taught  us  to 
choose  Thee  as  our  inheritance  and  portion,  and  to 
believe  that  when  all  those  things  in  which  we  now 
delight  shall  have  passed  away  Thou  remainest  able 
to  give  us  higher  and  better  things,  opening  still 
Thyself  as  the  dwelling-place  of  Thy  people  in  all 
generations.  We  thank  Thee  that  all  the  beauty  of 
this  world,  the  greatest  and  most  godlike  of  Thy 
works,  are  but  types  of  higher  and  enduring  works. 
The  years  have  brought  forth  their  beauty  and 
wealth  for  our  enjoyment,  and  have  waned  for  our 
warning.     They  pass,  but  Thou  remainest. 

May  we  have  clearer  views  of   Thy  holiness,  and 
see  more  distinctly  how  it  bears  upon    ours,  remem- 

179 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

bering  that  Thou  callest  us  to  be  one  with  Thee, 
and  that  Thou  givest  Thy  Holy  Spirit.  We  thank 
Thee  that  we  are  not  more  bound  to  be  holy  than 
Thou  art  to  make  us  holy.  Show  us  how  we  may 
please  Thee  better  and  help  us  to  choose  before  all 
things  to  be  faithful  to  Thee. 

We  come  before  Thee  with  varied  wants,  but  add 
Thy  presence  and  we  shall  be  complete  in  Thee. 
Fulfil  our  petitions  and  supply  all  our  need  through 
Him  who  is  Head  over  all  things,  who  holds  at 
command  all  earthly  blessings,  and  all  spiritual 
influences  for  the  good  of  His  people.  Coming  in 
meagre  faith,  may  we  be  strengthened  by  seeing 
Thee ;  coming  with  sin,  may  we  go  forgiven  and 
cleansed ;  coming  with  some  weariness  in  well-doing, 
or  indifference  to  advance  farther  and  abound  more 
in  good  works,  may  we  go  from  Thy  presence  strong 
in  the  Lord  ;  coming  with  less  than  proper  content- 
ment with  om'  lot,  may  we  go,  satisfied  that  what 
we  know  not  now  we  shall  know  hereafter. 


XII 


Give  us  desire  and  power  to  realise  Thy  presence. 
Persuade  us  all  of  Thy  love,  not  as  man  speaks  of 
it  to  man,  but  as  Thou  by  the  instruction  of  Thy 
Spirit   can   tell   us   of   it  ;    that  we   may  know  Thy 

180 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

love  as  it  is,  and  be  glad  to  abide  in  it  for  evermore. 
Go  deeply  into  the  reasons  in  us  for  refusing  Thy  help 
and  remove  all  our  misunderstandings  of  Thy  purpose, 
of  the  way  of  Thy  salvation,  of  the  end  to  which  Thou 
desirest  to  bring  us  that  we  may  own  Thee  as  our 
Lord  and  our  God.  And  whilst  we  own  Thee,  do 
Thou,  Lord,  also  own  us,  claim  us  authoritatively  as 
Thine — soul,  body,  and  spirit ;  that  the  bodies  we 
have  used  as  instruments  of  unrighteousness  may  now 
become  Thy  servants,  no  longer  to  be  the  slaves  of 
sin  but  to  be  educated  to  holiness.  And  as  we  have 
known  the  hard  service  of  sin,  so  may  we  now 
know  the  joy  of  being  claimed  by  Thee  and  begin 
to  experience  the  blessedness  of  Thy  service. 

God  of  all  grace,  who  didst  from  the  beginning 
promise  Thy  Son  to  break  the  serpent's  head,  help 
us  to  more  true  devotedness.  We  have  to  confess 
that  while  He  has  done  so  much  we  have  done 
little.  We  have  been  conscious  of  shortcoming, 
have  recognised  and  approved  a  better  life  than  that 
we  have  actually  lived.  We  have  known  to  do  good 
and  have  not  done  it.  Lead  us,  we  beseech  Thee, 
in  a  right  way.  Keep  us  from  falling  into  sluggish 
indifference  or  callous  worldliness.  Forbid  that  we 
should  ever  think  of  life  as  a  mere  spending  of 
time  ;  may  we  believe  in  Thy  purpose,  and  that  in 
Christ  Jesus  Thou  hast  made  provision  inexhaustible 
for  every  part  of  our  nature  and  for  the  need  of  all 

181 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

Thy  creatures.  Help  us  to  remember  that  there  is 
always  a  right  thing  to  be  done,  and  a  right  way  of 
living  through  this  present  time,  and  that  Thou  art 
always  willing  and  desirous  to  enable  us  to  make 
the  most  of  our  service  of  Thee.  If  we  are  engaging 
in  occupations  which  do  evil  and  not  good,  show  us 
our  mistakes,  and  preserve  us  from  turning  useful 
occupations  and  pursuits  into  evil.  May  we  see  how 
to  accomplish  the  good  we  would  do,  without  fret- 
ting, but  quietly,  steadily,  hopefully,  as  those  who 
know  that  Thou  art  with  them. 


XIII 

0  Lord,  help  us  to  feel  that  in  coming  into  Thy 
presence  we  are  coming  into  the  presence  of  the 
Highest  of  all,  by  whose  power  all  things  were 
made,  and  by  whose  will  all  things  abide  as  they 
are.  Help  us  to  come  with  reverence  and  godly 
fear,  and  grant  us  a  sense  of  Thy  reality,  of  Thy 
power,  of  Thy  holiness,  of  Thy  nearness  to  us,  and 
of  Thy  right  over  us.  We  would  praise  Thee  that 
Thou  hast  called  us  to  union  with  Thyself — that  we 
may  aim  at  an  eternal  life  full  of  glory,  honour, 
and  service,  and  we  pray  Thee  to  help  us  that  we  may 
count  the  main  use  of  this  world  to  be  our  preparation 
and  blessed  opportunity  for  becoming  fit  for  another. 

182 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

We  thank  thee  that  Thou  hast  not  suffered  us  to 
go  forward  in  ignorance,  in  utter  darkness,  with 
our  consciences  raising  all  fears  for  the  future,  but 
hast  assured  us  of  eternal  favour  and  hast  provided 
us  with  all  that  can  uphold  us  in  this  our  pre- 
paratory course. 

We  thank  Thee  that  in  order  to  raise  us  out  of 
this  our  lost  estate  Thy  Son  should  have  stooped 
down  and  become  partaker  of  our  sorrow,  and  bearer 
of  our  sins  ;  should  have  become  one  of  us,  connect- 
ing Himself  with  us,  not  for  a  little  while  only,  but 
eternally,  not  to  bring  us  a  little  on  our  way  and 
leave  us,  but  having  loved  us  He  loves  us  to  the 
end. 

We  thank  Thee  for  the  patience  with  which 
Thy  lessons  are  given  and  Thy  purposes  indicated. 
Help  us  better  to  understand  that  Thou  hast  put 
each  of  us  in  the  place  where  Thou  meanest  us  to 
carry  on  Thy  work.  Help  us  to  realise  the  dignity 
of  being  fellow-workers  with  Christ,  and  that  Thou 
hast  given  us  a  special  work  to  do  for  Thee.  Help 
us  ever  to  seek  first  the  things  of  Thy  kingdom 
and  keep  us  from  allowing  any  plan  of  our  own  to 
interfere  with  Thy  good  and  holy  will  concerning 
us.  May  we  ever  find  our  chief  joy  in  doing 
Thy  will,  and  more  and  more  may  we  feel  the  love 
of  Christ  constraining  us. 


183 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


XIV 


0  God,  we  thank  Thee  for  the  stated  hours  of 
worship,  for  time  fenced  ofiE  from  the  intrusion  of 
worldly  occupations  and  preserved  for  quiet  thought 
and  fellowship  with  Thee.  We  thank  Thee  that 
Thou,  the  invisible,  unsearchable  God,  hast  made 
Thyself  known  to  us  and  accessible  in  Jesus  Christ. 
"We  thank  Thee  for  the  eternal  solace  and  strength 
Thou  bringest  to  the  hearts  of  men,  by  giving  them 
to  know  Thee  and  to  lean  upon  Thee.  We  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  hast  made  Thyself  known  as  our 
faithful  Creator,  who  hast  not  ushered  us  into  a  life 
Thou  art  not  prepared  to  bless,  but  art  with  us 
throughout  it,  sufficient  for  all  our  necessities,  able 
to  bring  us  through  all  temptations,  patiently  wait- 
ing till  we  recognise  Thy  goodness  and  learn  to  love 
Thee.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  taught  us 
that  as  in  temporal  things  it  is  in  Thee  we  live,  so 
in  things  spiritual  we  are  expected  to  find  our 
sufficiency  in  Thee. 

We  find  it  difficult  to  maintain  upon  our  spirits 
a  just  sense  of  what  we  owe  to  Jesus  Christ — to 
persevere  in  the  use  of  those  outward  means  of  grace 
which  we  believe  to  be  appointed  and  blessed  by 
Thee,  to  forsake  habits  which  we  know  to  be  con- 
trary to  Thy  will  and  the  health  of  our  souls,  and 
the  evil  effects  of  which  we  continually  experience. 

184 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

Save  us  from  the  subtle  influences  that  under- 
mine the  character  and  weaken  faith.  0  Lord,  we 
have  great  need  and  little  faith.  As  Thou  hast  given 
us  promises  corresponding  to  our  need,  so  grant  us 
faith  corresponding  to  Thy  promises.  Preserve  us 
from  our  variableness  and  contentment  to  remain 
variable.  Grant  that  we  may  remember  and  rest 
upon  Thine  unchangeable  grace. 

Grant  to  Thy  ministering  servants  the  meekness 
of  wisdom,  help  them  to  proclaim  with  power  the 
gracious  Gospel  of  our  blessed  Lord.  May  our 
Saviour  be  glorified  this  day  in  sinners  being  turned 
to  Thee  and  in  Thy  people  being  built  up  in  Thy 
most  holy  faith. 


XV 


We  thank  Thee  for  Thy  goodness,  knowing  that  when 
we  speak  of  Thy  goodness  it  is  but  a  thousandth  part 
of  it  we  understand.  We  desire  that  a  deeper  sense 
of  it  be  wrought  into  our  spirits,  and  that  it  beget 
within  us  a  proper  confidence  in  Thee.  Be  with  us 
now,  and  grant  to  us  such  a  sense  of  Thy  presence 
that  the  thought  of  our  own  littleness  and  weakness 
may  be  lost  in  Thee,  the  altogether  perfect.  May  we 
understand  and  know  that  ithere  is  a  God,  and  that 
Thou  art  He. 

Maintain  within  us  all  holy  desires,  all   Godward 
185 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

motions,  all  warfare  against  deadness,  worldliness, 
carnality  of  soul.  Give  us  the  liberty  of  the  sons 
of  God,  perfectly  to  approve  of  Thee  and  Thy  will, 
to  be  wholly  satisfied  with  the  dominion  under  which 
we  are,  and  to  delight  in  all  that  is  required  of  us, 
knowing  we  serve  our  Father.  Enable  us  to  judge 
of  Thy  government,  its  holiness,  its  wisdom,  its 
benignity,  its  glory,  by  the  meeting  of  God  with 
man  in  Jesus  Christ.  Enable  us  to  estimate  Thy 
character  by  it,  and  to  judge  what  we  may  expect 
of  Thee  by  what  Thou  hast  already  done  for  us 
in  Christ. 

We  are  not  scrupulous  and  exact  to  give  Thee 
what  we  owe.  What  Thou  givest  for  Thy'  service 
we  have  not  been  careful  to  use  for  Thee,  and  yet 
do  rather  rebel  against  the  idea  of  being  wholly  at 
Thy  disposal  and  for  Thy  glory.  What  is  pleasing 
to  Thee  we  have  refused,  rebelled  against,  murmured 
at.  Though  sinners  and  exposed  to  Thy  wrath,  we 
have  not  felt  alarm,  nor  are  we  now  so  grieved 
and  humbled  by  sin  as  we  ought  to  be — we  do  not 
turn  from  each  sin  as  having  in  it  the  character 
of  that  which  brought  death  into  the  world.  Lord 
Jesus,  may  we  be  able  so  truly  to  abide  in  Thee 
that  our  whole  character  shall  be  transformed,  that 
our  will  shall  be  fashioned  in  accordance  with  Thine. 
Make  us  delight  to  do  Thy  will.  May  those  things 
be  hateful   to   us  which  are  hateful  to  Thee.    Give 

186 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

us  the  victory  that  overcomes  the  world,  that  enables 
us  to  be  in  it  but  not  of  it,  to  use  it  for  worthy- 
ends,  not  to  be  carried  away  by  its  fashions  and 
excitements.  In  all  that  we  do  may  we  seek  to 
glorify  our  Father  in  heaven. 


XVI 


0  God,  we  thank  Thee  that  Thine  ear  is  ever  open 
to  our  cry,  that  Thou  never  turnest  away  needy 
ones  who  come  to  Thee.  Thou  knowest,  0  God, 
that  our  need  is  great,  but  we  rejoice  to  know  that 
it  is  not  greater  than  Thou  art  able  to  supply.  We 
are  ashamed  to  think  that  we  have  not  because  we 
ask  not.  "When  we  think  that  it  is  the  resources 
of  the  Godhead  to  which  Thou  givest  us  access,  we 
are  ashamed  at  the  poverty,  the  carelessness,  the 
thoughtlessness  of  our  requests.  We  pray  Thee  to 
give  us  that  broken  and  contrite  heart  which  is 
well  pleasing  in  Thy  sight.  Give  us  a  heart  emptied 
of  self  and  filled  with  love  to  Thee  our  God  and 
Saviour.  In  all  that  we  purpose  may  we  set  Thee 
before  us.  Give  us  the  assurance  that  all  our  plans 
are  well  pleasing  in  Thy  sight.  Save  us  from  self- 
seeking  and  self -pleasing.  Make  us  honestly  desirous 
to  do  Thy  will.  May  we  be  so  filled  with  Thy 
Spirit  that  we  shall    delight   to   do   Thy  will.     Give 

187 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

us  such  a  belief  in  the  truth  of  Thy  promises  and 
the  rightness  of  Thy  commandments  as  will  prompt 
us  more  earnestly  to  strive  after  attaining  what  Thou 
hast  promised,  and  more  steadily  desirous  of  doing 
what  Thou  requirest.  May  self-indulgence  never 
take  the  place  of  Thy  commandments.  As  often  as 
we  feel  our  weakness,  our  inability  to  obey  Thy 
commandments,  may  we  derive  strength  from  Thy 
promises. 

Help  us  to  live  as  those  who  know  that  they  are 
redeemed  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ  and  as 
those  whom  Thou  hast  chosen  for  Thy  service.  0 
God  save  us  from  the  sin  of  leaving  Christ's  cause 
to  perish  through  our  neglect.  Give  us  more  of 
the  Spirit  of  Christ.  Help  us  to  walk  more  closely, 
more  steadily,  in  the  footsteps  of  our  Master,  ever 
doing  Thy  will,  ever  ready  to  do  good  as  Thou 
givest  us  opportunity,  and  ever  well  pleased  with 
all  Thy  good  and  holy  will  concerning  us. 


XVII 

0  God,  teach  us  to  pray.  We  come  to  Thee  with 
our  needs,  believing  that  Thou  art  able  to  do  for 
us  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  can 
ask  or  think.  We  pray  Thee  to  make  us  new 
creatures  in   Christ  Jesus.    We   need  Thee  to  make 

188 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

us  anew  that  we  may  be  temples  fit  for  Thee  to 
dwell  in. 

Give  us  a  keener  sense  that  we  are  one  with  Christ, 
that  our  safety  depends  on  a  living,  personal  union 
with  Christ,  that  because  He  lives  we  shall  live 
also.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  assurance  this  brings 
us  that  one  day  we  shall  be  holy  as  Thou  art 
holy.  Help  us  to  strive  more  earnestly  after  perfect 
conformity  to  Thy  will.  Keep  us  in  contact  with 
all  that  promotes  this. 

Grant  us  grace  to  walk  as  children  of  light,  soberly, 
purely,  honestly,  as  in  the  day  ;  keep  us  this  day, 
we  pray  Thee,  from  sin,  uphold  us  when  about  to 
fall,  lift  us  up  if  we  have  fallen.  Suffer  us  not 
to  continue  under  any  provocation  or  temptation,  or 
to  have  our  hearts  hardened  through  the  deceitfulness 
of  sin. 

Keep  us  from  shrinking  or  repining  at  the  trials  or 
disappointments  of  life.  Help  us  at  all  times  and 
in  all  circumstances  to  say  "  Good  is  the  will  of  the 
Lord  concerning  us."  Whether  Thou  seest  meet  to 
send  us  joy  or  sorrow,  may  we  have  the  assurance 
that  both  come  from  our  Father,  who  knows  what 
is  best  for  us. 

Guide  us,  we  pray  Thee,  in  all  our  worldly  affairs, 
in  the  steps  we  take,  the  customs  we  adopt,  the  society 
we  choose.  Help  us  more  adequately  to  discharge  our 
ordinary  duties.     Impart  to  us  the  state  of  mind  which 

189 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


may  enable  us  to  do   so.     Give  us  the  meekness  of 
wisdom,  loving-kindness,  patience. 


XVIII 

0  God,  we  thank  Thee  for  Thy  preserving  care  of  us. 
We  pray  Thee  to  make  us  realise  more  constantly  our 
dependence  upon  Thee  for  health  of  body  and  mind, 
and  for  all  we  need.  0  God,  increase  our  faith.  May 
we  at  all  times  believe  that  Thou  requirest  of  us 
nothing  that  Thy  almighty  power  is  not  able  to 
accomplish  in  us.  Give  us  such  a  belief  in  the 
truth  of  Thy  promises  and  the  rightness  of  Thy 
commandments  as  will  prompt  us  more  earnestly 
to  strive  after  obtaining  what  Thou  hast  promised 
and  more  steadily  desirous  of  doing  what  Thou 
requirest. 

May  we  live  more  entirely  upon  Christian  motives, 
and  in  a  Christian  atmosphere,  letting  our  thoughts 
and  feelings  be  elevated  and  sanctified  and  softened  by 
continual  contact  with  the  love  of  Christ.  Lead  us 
clear  of  all  self-deception  and  dulness  of  understand- 
ing. May  we  recognise  the  requirements,  the  aims, 
the  scope,  the  aids,  of  the  Christian  life.  May  the 
faith  of  Christ  take  firmer  hold  of  us,  may  our  minds 
be  more  satisfied,  our  feelings  more  entirely  engaged, 
our  life   more  absolutely  devoted.     We   thank   Thee 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

that  Thou  puttest  it  within  the  reach  of  every  one  to 
make  his  life  worthy  and  satisfying. 

We  are  ashamed  that  Thon  having  done  so  much  for 
us,  and  so  lavishly  and  ungrudgingly  sacrificed  for  us, 
we  should  have  been  so  backward,  so  timorous,  so 
irresponsible.  Forgive  our  foolishness,  our  careless- 
ness about  Thy  purpose,  our  unfaithfulness  to  Thy 
interests.  "We  come  to  Thee  for  renewal  and 
strengthening. 

Those  troubles  we  cannot  remove  from  our  life  do 
Thou  help  us  to  bear  with  fortitude  and  in  such 
a  temper  that  we  shall  be  the  better  for  them.  Con- 
sider the  defeated,  the  desolate,  the  burdened,  the 
perplexed,  the  tempted,  all  who  suffer  from  unknown 
and  unshared  sorrows.  May  those  who  are  called 
on  to  bear  the  burden  of  others  recognise  that  a 
life  of  service  is  better  than  a  life  of  ease. 


XIX 

We  think  with  joy  of  the  great  multitude  who  awake 
this  morning  to  praise  Thee,  whose  hearts  are  rejoic- 
ing in  Thy  works,  and  whose  mouths  are  filled  with 
thankful  acknowledgment  of  Thy  goodness.  Thou 
makest  summer  and  winter.  As  Thou  renewest  the 
face  of  the  earth,  and  causest  it  to  bring  forth,  so 
shine  on  us  with  the  light  of  Thy  countenance  and 

191 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

gladden  us  inwardly  with  the  shining  of  the  Sun  of 
righteousness.  And  grant  that  in  the  joy  of  the  Lord 
we  may  find  our  strength,  and  be  filled  with  grace  to 
bring  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 

We  thank  Thee  that  as  the  sunshine  and  air  have 
not  to  be  worked  for,  but  only  received,  so  Thy  favour 
is  free. 

We  thank  Thee  for  Thy  watchful  care  of  us.  We 
pray  Thee  to  keep  us  from  being  careless  or  indifferent 
to  Thy  words  of  Truth.  Give  us  grace  to  set  our 
hearts  to  understand  Thy  merciful  dealings  with  us. 
Keep  us,  0  God,  from  taking  matters  into  our  own 
hand,  instead  of  waiting  to  be  led  and  guided  by  Thee. 
Help  us  truly  and  simply  to  trust  Thee.  Make  us 
alive  to  the  fact  that  Thou  hast  given  each  one  of  us 
a  work  to  do  for  Thee,  and  that  Thou  hast  placed 
us  where  we  can  best  carry  on  Thy  work.  We  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  requirest  nothing  that  Thy  grace  will 
not  fit  us  to  do.  Thou  knowest  our  weakness,  our 
ignorance,  our  sinfulness,  better  than  we  know  it  our- 
selves, and  yet  Thou  hast  chosen  us  for  Thy  service. 
Help  us  ever  to  seek  first  the  things  of  Thy  kingdom. 
Keep  us  from  allowing  any  plan  of  our  own  to  inter- 
fere with  Thy  good  and  holy  will  concerning  us. 
May  we  ever  find  our  chief  joy  in  doing  Thy  will,  and 
may  the  thought  of  Thy  great  love  to  us  in  Christ 
Jesus  so  fill  our  hearts  that  we  shall  ever  feel  it  con- 
straining us  to  love  Thee  more  and  serve  Thee  better. 

192 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


XX 


Lord,  teach  us  to  trust  Thee.  We  know  that  there  is 
every  reason  to  trust  Thee,  but  it  is  a  hard  battle  to 
which  Thou  hast  called  some  of  us,  and  we  need  Thy 
help  lest  we  be  moved  away  from  the  beginning  of  our 
confidence.  May  Thy  Spirit  therefore  be  at  hand  to 
point  out  to  us  and  to  impress  upon  us  the  reasons 
there  are  for  trusting  Thee,  that  we  may  never  be 
beaten  down  so  low  as  to  forget  that  Thou  art  on 
our  side.  May  He  remind  us  that  Thou  art  the 
unchangeable  God,  from  everlasting  to  everlasting,  a 
sufficient  centre  for  the  faith  of  all  that  Thou  hast 
made.  The  eyes  of  all  wait  upon  Thee,  and  Thou 
givest  them  their  meat  in  due  season  ;  Thou  art  the 
confidence  of  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  to  Thee  all 
flesh  comes.  May  Thy  Spirit  bring  to  our  mind  Thy 
loving-kindnesses  which  have  been  ever  of  old,  that, 
knowing  Thy  name  as  the  dwelling-place  of  Thy 
people  in  all  generations,  we  also  may  put  our  trust 
in  Thee,  for  Thou,  Lord,  hast  not  forsaken  them  that 
seek  Thee.  May  He  reveal  to  us  the  forgiving  mercy 
and  the  ungrudging  liberality  of  Thy  nature,  that  we 
may  feel  a  full  and  implicit  trust  in  Thee  for  the  supply 
of  every  want  of  our  souls,  bodies,  and  spirits.  May  He 
specially  reveal  to  us  that  great  gift  of  Thine  wherein 
Thou  hast  fully  revealed  Thy  nature  and  Thy  mind 
towards  us.    "  If  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  recon- 

Footsteps,  1QQ  Q 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

ciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  His  Son,  much  more, 
being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  His  life."  Thou 
hast  not  called  us  to  forsake  us,  but  Thou  art  faith- 
ful ;  Thy  gifts  and  calling  are  without  repentance. 
Thou  hast  given  us  Thy  Son  as  the  great  foundation 
and  earnest  and  treasury  of  eternal  and  u.nbounded 
provision. 

If  any  of  us  are  tried  in  the  matters  of  this  life, 
teach  us  that  as  Thou  hast  given  us  the  true  Bread 
from  heaven,  much  more  wilt  Thou  give  us  daily 
bread. 

XXI 

0  Lord,  who  knowest  all  the  difficulties  we  meet 
when  we  strive  to  raise  our  thoughts  to  Thee,  who 
knowest  our  common  inability  for  Thy  worship,  and 
the  special  hindrances  of  our  several  characters  and 
positions,  grant  that  these  may  now  be  overcome.  We 
thank  Thee  that  we  know  that  Thou  art  to  be  trusted 
wholly  and  eternally,  that  in  Thee  we  find  rest  and 
refuge,  a  sure  dwelling-place  ;  that  we  know  there  is 
sure  hope  for  those  who  come  to  Thee  of  deliverance 
from  all  evil  and  entrance  into  all  blessedness  and 
enjoyment  of  Thee. 

For  all  that  we  know  of  Thee  we  praise  Thee,  for 
according  to  Thy  name  so  is  Thy  praise.  Thine  is  the 
kingdom,   0   Lord,  and    Thou    art  exalted  as  Head 

194 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

above  all.  Both  riches  and  honour  come  of  Thee,  and 
Thou  reignest  over  all ;  and  in  Thine  hand  is  power 
and  might,  and  in  Thine  hand  it  is  to  make  great  and 
to  give  strength  unto  all. 

We  thank  Thee  for  Thy  goodness  in  making  us 
capable  of  becoming  Thy  children  ;  and  for  Him  who 
has  redeemed  us  and  shown  us  the  path  of  life. 

We  acknowledge  that  the  better  life  we  have  known 
to  be  our  duty  we  have  not  continuously  striven  to 
rise  to,  we  have  let  our  efforts  be  slackened  by  trivial, 
frivolous  occupations,  by  reckless  exposure  to  hostile 
influences,  by  ardent  attachment  to  worldly  ends 
and  eager  engagement  in  their  pursuit. 

Let  not  our  hearts  harden.  Suffer  us  not  to  succeed 
in  our  efforts  to  make  sin  seem  a  slight  thing.  Let  us 
not  be  deceived  by  any  appearance  of  good  results 
from  our  sin.  Let  us  not  hasten  past  our  sins,  shrink- 
ing from  humbling  ourselves  before  Thee,  and  becom- 
ing more  deeply  indebted  to  Thee.  0  Lord,  in  this 
matter  of  sin  which  does  so  weaken  and  blind  the 
faculties  of  our  souls  do  Thou  aid  us.  Thou  who 
seest  to  the  end  of  all  difficulty,  who  canst  reach  to 
the  root  of  all  ill,  do  thou  heal,  disentangle,  enlighten, 
deliver  us. 

May  Thy  Spirit  work  in  us  a  more  real  depend- 
ence on  Jesus  Christ  ;  a  more  genuine,  grateful, 
and  fruitful  repentance,  a  true  contentment  as  Thy 
servants,  more  glad  and  hearty  approval  of  Thy  will. 

195 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


XXII 


We  thank  Thee  for  houi'S  of  worship.  May  strength 
flow  from  them  into  our  hours  of  labour.  May  we 
come  into  living  contact  with  that  which  can  uphold 
and  guide  us.  Give  us  to  believe  that  whatever  our 
purpose  and  desire  of  profiting  may  be,  Thine  is 
infinitely  greater  that  we  shall  profit. 

We  seek  to  grow  in  the  knowledge  of  Thee,  and  yet 
we  do  not  grow ;  we  seek  to  be  convinced  of  the  reality 
of  things  unseen,  of  Thy  nearness,  of  Thy  love,  of  Thy 
power  to  interfere  in  our  life,  and  yet  we  are  not. 
Lord,  if  we  are  blind  open  our  eyes  that  we  may  see. 
Have  pity  upon  us  and  so  deal  with  us  that  all  doubt 
shall  be  dispelled.  If  we  do  not  accurately  apprehend 
our  own  spiritual  state,  and  are  unable  to  detail  to  Thee 
our  wants,  may  we  receive  from  Thee  increased  light. 
If  we  feel  that  our  apprehensions  of  Thee  are  very 
slight,  and  that  amidst  many  manifestations  of  Thy 
kindness  we  still  maintain  a  thankless  and  cold-hearted 
disposition,  be  pleased  graciously  to  overcome  our 
coldness  and  blindness.  So  bless  us  that  we  cannot 
but  recognise  a  Divine  bounty,  a  supernatural  influ- 
ence, and  learn  to  expect  more,  and  what  to  expect. 

We  seek  above  all  else  to  learn  to  love  Thee  ;  we  feel 
that  if  our  religion  does  not  give  us  this  it  is  vain  and 
empty  of  that  which  we  chiefly  desire.  And  help  us, 
Lord,  we  beseech  Thee,  to  sincerity  and  thorough- 

196 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

ness  in  self -surrender.  May  we  give  up  our  own  will, 
and  be  ruled  by  Thee  ;  may  we  seek  no  longer  oui- 
own  things,  but  the  things  that  are  Christ's. 

We  thank  Thee  that  progress  is  the  law  in  all  Thy 
works,  that  out  of  imperfect  things  Thou  bringest 
what  is  perfect,  and  carriest  all  things  forward  to  what 
is  higher  and  better.  Grant  that  those  matters  which 
depend  on  human  will  and  human  efforts  may  also 
improve,  that  destitution,  vice,  and  enmities  may  come 
to  an  end,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  God  may  come. 


XXIII 

0  God,  we  thank  Thee  for  this  life,  with  all  its  joys, 
its  opportunities,  its  discipline.  But  we  could  scarcely 
thank  Thee  for  this  life  had  we  no  hope  of  a  better  in 
which  all  we  have  learnt  may  be  used,  and  in  which 
all  we  have  here  loved  may  be  fully  enjoyed.  Our 
motives  are  here  so  mixed  ;  we  are  tossed  between 
consciousness  of  our  own  weakness  and  trust  in  Thy 
strength ;  between  aspiration  after  an  ideal  life  and 
eager  pursuit  of  self-interest  and  pleasures.  Grant  us, 
we  beseech  Thee,  a  revival  of  interest  in  spiritual 
things,  a  renewed  openness  to  impressions  that  tend 
to  godly  living.  Increase  our  faith  and  give  us  a  more 
lively  apprehension  of  the  reality  of  things  unseen,  a 
firmer  assurance  that  life  is  not  a  vain  and  fruitless 

197 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

spending  of  time,  that  there  is  a  purpose  in  it  the 
attainment  of  which  will  justify  all  toil  and  sacrifice 
and  thought  and  feeling.  Help  us  to  recognise  and 
earnestly  to  desire  the  blessings  Thou  art  most  ready 
to  bestow.    Bring  our  wills  into  conformity  with  Thine. 

May  each  of  us  be  striving,  in  the  secrecy  of  our 
own  spirit,  to  subdue  pride,  to  walk  humbly  with 
Thee,  to  seek  Thy  grace  to  conform  to  Thy  will.  Let 
us  not  be  dismayed  though  it  take  long  to  wear  out 
the  strength  and  stain  of  sin.  Let  no  past  sins 
entirely  overwhelm  us  now,  no  foolishness,  no  obsti- 
nacy, no  selfishness,  no  grossness,  no  pride,  no  vanity, 
no  cold-heartedness  ;  let  nothing  we  have  done  amiss 
sever  us  from  Thee,  and  prevent  us  from  receiving 
Thy  favour  and  becoming  like  to  Thee. 

We  thank  Thee  that  Thy  greatness  does  not  separate 
Thee  from  Thy  creatures,  but  makes  Thee  more  their 
own.  Thou  hast  said  that  we  glorify  Thee  when  we 
call  upon  Thee  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  we  believe 
that  all  trouble  is  known  to  Thee  and  will  be  guided 
by  Thee  to  issues  that  Thou  wilt  bless.  Make  us 
strong  in  faith,  believing  that  Thou  art  with  us,  suffi- 
cient for  all  our  hourly  need.  Rebuke  our  fears — may 
we  feel  that  in  Thee  and  in  Thy  presence  is  fulness  of 
joy,  and  that  Thou  goest  with  us,  caring  most  for  the 
weakest  who  can  least  stand  alone.  May  we  go  on 
our  way  leaning  upon  Thee,  striving  to  serve  our 
fellows  and  to  fulfil  Thy  holy  will  in  all  things. 

198 


PULPIT   PRAYERS 


XXIV 


0  THOU  who  art  the  source  of  all  gracious  influences 
that  can  effectually  help  us,  and  without  whom 
we  cannot  hope  to  live  on,  and  to  live  happily,  do 
Thou  be  gracious  to  us,  and  leave  us  not  in  the 
power  of  those  things  to  which  we  have  recklessly 
and  ignorantly  given  ourselves.  In  Thee  do  we 
hope — in  that  unchanging  goodness  of  Thine  which 
seeks  to  abolish  evil  wherever  it  is,  in  us  or  in 
others,  and  which  strives  always  to  bring  all  things 
to  a  more  perfect  state.  We  believe  in  Thy  love, 
which  cannot  weary  or  die  out,  which  loves  us 
even  as  we  are,  and  has  followed  us  even  in  our 
lost  estate,  and  has  moved  Thee  to  send  Thy  Son 
as  the  "Way  back  to  Thee.  What  He  has  taught 
us  of  Thy  love  and  care  for  sinners  we  seek  to 
receive. 

We  are  ashamed  of  our  perversity — that  we  are 
so  little  capable  of  being  touched  by  Thy  love  or 
impressed  by  Thy  greatness.  May  we  hold  in  our 
minds  the  contrast  between  our  own  lives  and  that 
of  Christ,  till  shame  deepens  into  repentance  and 
repentance  transforms  us  into  His  likeness.  Show 
us  what  our  life,  with  all  its  fixed  circumstances, 
might  become  were  we  of  His  spirit,  knowing 
that  as  we  grow  in  love  we  grow  in  likeness  to 
Him    who  though  He   was  rich   yet  for  our  sakes 

199 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

became  poor.  Help  us  to  consider  more  sincerely 
and  more  fully  the  wants  of  others.  May  we 
prefer  others  to  ourselves,  and  seek  to  bring  all 
their  wants  and  interests  to  Thee  our  Father  in 
heaven. 

We  are  ashamed  that  we  have  accomplished  so 
little.  We  have  thought  about  our  relation  to 
Christ,  have  spoken  much  about  His  service,  but 
we  have  done  little.  We  have  seen  the  pitiable 
condition  of  many  of  our  fellows,  have  bewailed  it, 
but  have  done  little  to  alter  it ;  few  have  been 
the  better  for  us. 

Neither  has  our  life  been  such  as  to  attract  men 
to  Christ.  We  have  not  reproduced  His  meekness, 
His  wisdom,  His  unselfish  devotion,  His  unworld- 
liness. 

But  we  come  unto  Thee  who  art  the  God  of  all 
grace,  and  who  art  more  willing  to  give  than  we 
to  receive.  We  believe  that  Thou  canst  perfect 
that  which  concerneth  us  and  work  in  us  that 
which  is  well  pleasing  in  Thy  sight. 


XXV 

We  seek  to  come  to  Thee  in  the  spirit  of  this 
day — as  children  of  the  Resurrection,  who  have  been 
begotten   again   to   a   lively  hope.     Help   us    to   live 

200 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

remembering,  and  loving  to  remember,  Him  who 
died  for  us  and  who  rose  again.  May  this  be  to  us 
a  day  of  brightness,  of  calmness,  of  joy,  of  humili- 
ation, of  contrition,  of  holy  purpose.  "We  seek  to 
worship  Thee  in  simplicity  through  Jesus  Christ, 
accepting  Him  as  the  image  of  the  Invisible  God, 
the  true  revealer  of  Thee  the  Father.  May  we 
enter  into  that  real  communion  with  Him  by  which 
we  become  members  of  Christ.  May  we  feel  this 
unity  to  be  most  real — a  unity  whose  root  is  love, 
and  therefore  the  best,  which  is  eternal,  and  identifies 
us  in  all  things  with  Him.  Enable  us  to  realise 
some  of  the  great  things  which  are  given  to  us  in 
this  union — the  encouragement  of  knowing  we  are 
loved,  of  being  accompanied  through  life  by  One 
who  knows  the  way,  and  who  has  Himself 
triumphed,  who  lived  His  life  in  evidence  that 
the  best  things  can  be  obtained.  Especially  He  had 
a  life  in  direct  communication  with  Thee  the  Father  ; 
and  this  He  gives  to  us — a  life  forgiven,  at  peace, 
an  energetic  and  hopeful  fulfilment  of  God's  will. 

We  desire  truly  to  consecrate  ourselves  to  Thee. 
Put  that  heart  within  us  which  shall  make  this 
true,  necessary,  abiding. 

When  disheartened  by  our  own  guilt  and  weak- 
ness may  we  find  consolation  and  renewal  in  Thee, 
and  may  we  be  enabled  to  believe  that  we  can  be  as 
truly   nourished   by   Christ's  life  as  each   member  is 

201 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

by  the  life  of  the  body.  And  as  He  embraced  all 
men  in  His  love,  and  could  leave  none  outside,  so 
may  we  be  emptied  of  self  and  filled  with  love  to 
Thee  and  to  our  fellow-men,  doing  good  to  all  as 
we  have  opportunity.  In  all  that  we  purpose 
may  we  set  Thee  before  us,  and  give  us  the  assurance 
that  all  our  plans  are  well-pleasing  in  Thy  sight. 


XXVI 

We  worship  Thee,  0  God,  who  hast  revealed  Thj'- 
self  to  us  in  Christ  Jesus.  We  thank  Thee  that 
He  has  come  to  show  us  that  it  is  eternal  life  to 
know  Thee  the  Father,  and  to  trust  Thee  even  as 
He  trusted  Thee.  We  thank  Thee  that  He  came  to 
lift  us  up  into  the  fellowship  of  His  own  filial 
knowledge  of  Thee  and  trust  in  Thee,  and  to 
show  us  Thine  eternal  purpose  of  good  towards 
sinners  of  mankind.  He  has  said  "  Whoso  hath 
seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father,"  and  we  would  be 
sharers  in  the  blessedness  of  those  who  have  not 
seen  yet  have  believed,  who  can  say  from  the 
heart,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living 
God."  Give  us  the  joy  of  those  who  are  conscious 
they  have  found  and  need  never  more  lose  perfect 
love  and  perfect  goodness.  May  we  be  carried  out 
of  ourselves  by   the  vision   of  Christ,   and   may  we 

202 


PULPIT   PRAYERS 

be  enabled  to  give  ourselves  into  His  keeping,  that 
our  sins  may  not  prevail  against  us. 

There  is  much  that  separates  us  from  Thee, 
much  that  persuades  us  we  are  not  Thine,  much 
that  saddens,  bewilders,  and  weakens  us.  Lord, 
teach  us  to  pray ;  give  us  that  gift  of  faith  by 
which  alone  we  can  have  the  vision  of  Jesus  Christ 
or  can  live  to  Thee.  May  our  prayers  be  more 
real ;  give  us  the  beginning  of  all  true  prayer,  a 
sincere  willingness  to  be  made  holy,  to  be  loosed 
from  sin,  and  to  accept  all  the  responsibilities  and 
arduousness  of  the  spiritual  life.  Help  us  in  all 
that  concerns  the  maintenance  of  our  spiritual  life. 
May  our  knowledge  of  Divine  things  be  more 
true.  Give  us  clearer  views,  deeper  convictions, 
more  steadfast  purpose. 

May  our  lives  be  increasingly  devoted  to  ends 
that  justify  themselves  in  our  reason  and  conscience. 
Instead  of  striving  for  what  is  beyond  our  reach, 
may  we  learn  to  appreciate  and  to  desire  what  Thou 
hast  put  within  our  reach.  May  it  at  all  times  be 
our  chief  satisfaction  that  opportunity  is  given  us 
to  promote  the  good  of  men.  May  we  see  where  it 
is  possible  to  alleviate  pain,  to  relieve  poverty, 
to  repress  vice,  to  sow  the  seeds  of  permanent 
happiness  in  one  or  two  lives. 


203 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


XXVII 


We  thank  Thee  for  Thy  goodness  in  sending  ns 
One  in  whom  we  are  complete,  in  whom  all  our 
wants  are  satisfied,  our  sins  forgiven.  We  thank 
Thee  that  things  are  ordered  for  our  good ;  that 
the  result  of  all  is  to  justify  Thy  wisdom  and  love  ; 
that  though  on  the  way  many  things  happen  to  us 
that  are  hard  to  bear  and  difficult  to  understand,  the 
end  of  all  is  to  be  perfect  victory,  perfect  peace, 
perfect  joy.  For  all  the  schooling  of  this  life  we 
thank  Thee,  and  we  pray  that  all  our  experience 
may  lead  us  to  a  deeper  penitence,  a  more  entire 
and  trustful  reliance  upon  Thee.  We  know  that 
were  all  our  desires  gratified,  and  all  our  views  of 
our  own  need  met  we  should  still  be  imperfect. 
But  Thou  seest  all  and  desirest  our  perfection. 
May  we  feel  how  safe  and  blessed  we  are  in  Thy 
keeping  and  under  Thy  government.  And  may 
we  eagerly  accept  Thy  government  as  that  expres- 
sion of  Thy  will  by  which  Thou  wouldst  lead  us 
to  the  highest  good.  We  desire  to  renounce  all 
other  lords  that  have  had  dominion  over  us,  and 
to  live  by  Thy  rule  only. 

Give  us  a  discerning  and  sensitive  conscience. 
Deliver  us  from  what  we  feel  to  be  unsatisfactory, 
wrong,  and  dangerous  in  our  spiritual  condition. 
Help   us  to  master  and  use  rightly  those  elements 

204 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

in  our  circumstances  which  tend  to  lower  our 
spiritual  tone.  May  no  difficulty  we  meet  in  trying 
to  eradicate  evil  slacken  our  efforts,  but  may  it 
rather  show  us  the  urgent  need  there  is  of  more 
determined  and  constant  endeavour.  We  feel  deeply 
our  helplessness  in  dealing  with  sin.  May  our 
fellowship  with  Jesus  Christ  be  more  real  and  more 
constant.  May  He  be  that  One  who  has  most 
influence  with  us.  May  we  never  forget  or  lose 
sight  of  what  we  have  in  Him.  Give  us  the  aid 
of  Thy  Spirit,  that  we  may  understand  more  of 
His  purposes  in  the  world  and  may  be  enabled 
to  further  them.  Help  us  to  see  that  Thou  hast 
a  work  for  each  of  us,  and  that  in  all  that  Thou 
givest  us  to  do  Thou  art  ready  to  give  us  strength, 
and  wisdom  and  all  that  is  necessary  in  the  doing 
of  it. 

XXVIII 

0  God,  we  thank  Thee  for  all  the  joys  of  life. 
Suffer  us  not  to  think  that  these  are  passing  or  delu- 
sive, but  enable  us  to  accept  them  as  foretastes  of 
higher  joys  to  come,  as  indications  of  our  capacity 
for  happiness  and  of  Thy  power  to  give  us  happiness. 
Give  us  grace  to  believe  that  in  Thy  service  is 
the  only  true  liberty  of  Thy  creatures,  their  only 
happiness  and  wisdom.     Even  when  conscious  that 

205 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

we  have  unfitted  ourselves  for  Thy  work,  that  we 
are  indeed  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins — yet  we 
believe  that  thou  canst  vitalise  us,  bringing  us 
to  that  real  faith  in  Christ  and  reliance  on 
Him  which  will  make  our  life  one  with  His  life. 
Help  us  so  to  surrender  ourselves  to  Him  that  we 
may  understand  what  it  means  to  have  "  Christ 
dwelling  in  our  heart  by  faith,"  and  may  be  able 
at  last  to  say,  "  The  life  which  I  now  live  in  the 
flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who 
loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me." 

May  we  be  really  one  with  Christ,  not  in  name 
only  but  in  love.  And  as  His  life  was  shaped  by 
His  love  for  us  and  union  with  us,  so  may  ours 
be  lived  in  conformity  with  His  blessed  life. 
May  we  be  enabled  to  believe  that  we  can  be  as 
truly  nourished  by  Christ's  life  as  each  member  is 
by  the  life  of  the  body. 

And  as  He  embraced  all  men  in  His  love,  and 
could  leave  none  outside,  so  may  we  be  emptied 
of  self,  and  filled  with  love  to  our  fellow-men,  doing 
good  to  all  as  we  have  opportunity.  May  we  be 
moved  to  more  earnest  desire  that  Thy  name  may 
be  known  among  those  who  know  Thee  not,  that 
the  great  love  wherewith  Thou  hast  loved  mankind 
may  be  made  known,  even  in  the  dark  places  of  the 
earth. 

May  those  who  are  called  to   anxieties  and  hard- 
206 


PULPIT   PRAYERS 

ships  find   in   their   lot   compensating  advantages   to 
character. 

May  their  diminished  share  of  the  good  and 
gladness  of  this  life  lead  them  to  make  more  of 
the  spiritual  inheritance  of  Thy  children,  and  of 
the  joy  and  strength  which  are  its  earnests. 


XXIX 

0  God,  we  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  revealed 
Thyself  to  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  in  Him  Thou 
comest  nigh  to  us.  We  are  ashamed  that  Thou 
having  done  so  much  for  us,  and  so  lavishly  and 
ungrudgingly  sacrificed  for  us,  we  should  have  been 
so  backward,  so  timorous,  so  irresponsive.  Forgive 
our  foolishness,  our  carelessness  about  Thy  purpose, 
our  unfaithfulness  to  Thy  interests. 

We  come  to  Thee  seeking  renewal  and  increased 
strength.  Suffer  us  not  to  lose  the  joy  of  Thy  salva- 
tion and  to  find  that,  like  so  much  else,  it  is  a  dis- 
appointment. Lead  us  clear  of  all  self-deception  and 
dulness  of  understanding.  May  we  recognise  the 
requirements,  the  aims,  the  scope,  the  aids,  of  the 
Christian  life  ;  may  the  faith  and  religion  of  Christ 
take  firmer  hold  of  us ;  may  our  minds  be  more 
satisfied,  our  feelings  more  entirely  engaged,  our  lives 
more  absolutely  devoted. 

207 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

We  thank  Thee  that  in  a  world  in  which  there  is 
much  that  is  mysterious  there  is  much  also  that  is 
plain,  that  enough  is  given  to  help  us  to  believe  that 
Thou  rulest  and  that  the  hope  of  the  world  lies  in 
being  ruled  by  Thee.  We  desire  to  do  what  we  can 
towards  this  end  by  submitting  ourselves  to  Thy  rule. 
We  need  the  faith  that  overcomes  the  world,  that 
enables  us  to  be  in  it,  but  not  of  it ;  to  use  it  for 
worthy  ends,  not  to  be  carried  away  by  its  fashions 
and  excitements. 

May  our  hearts  be  so  wholly  won  by  Christ  that  it 
shall  be  our  joy  to  serve  Him  even  in  circumstances 
not  in  themselves  joyful.  May  a  true  and  wise  zeal 
possess  our  spirits. 

May  those  who  labour  for  Thee  find  that  Thou 
sendest  none  a- warring  on  his  own  charges,  but  that 
Thy  grace  is  sufficient  for  their  needs  and  for  the 
needs  of  the  whole  world.  And  may  Thy  spirit  show 
to  each  of  us  that  to  every  one  who  seeks  to  do  Thy 
will  in  the  smallest  service  of  Thy  vineyard  there 
will  be  the  sure  reward  of  sharing  in  the  joy  of  the 
harvest. 

XXX 

We  thank  Thee,  0  God,  for  all  the  great  names  by 
which  Thou  hast  revealed  Thyself  to  us — that  Thou, 
the  Wonderful,  the  Counsellor,  the  mighty  God,  the 

208 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  hast  said  Thou 
wilt  be  with  us  in  our  frailty,  our  poverty,  our  empti- 
ness. We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  encouraged  us 
to  trust  in  Thee  as  our  God,  to  believe  that  Thy 
wisdom  is  ours  to  watch  over  us,  finding  out  ways 
to  do  us  good ;  that  Thy  power  is  ours  to  deliver  us 
out  of  temptation  and  to  defend  us  in  all  danger 
spiritual  and  temporal,  and  to  subdue  our  enemies 
under  us  ;  that  Thy  providence  watches  over  us, 
turning  all  things  to  our  good,  and  directing  our 
whole  life  for  our  greatest  happiness,  to  bring  us  to 
heaven  and  holiness  and  to  Thyself,  in  spite  of  the 
devil  and  our  own  corruptions  ;  that  Thy  mercy  and 
love  will  never  forsake  us  and  are  stronger  than  all 
that  can  be  against  us. 

We  need  more  real  feeling,  more  certainty  of  faith, 
an  inward  unquestioning  persuasion  of  the  reality  of 
our  connection  with  Thee,  through  our  perception  of 
Thy  goodness,  our  devotion  to  Thy  purposes,  our 
humble  acceptance  of  Thy  love. 

Sometimes  we  feel  as  if  our  religion  were  hollow. 
Remove  our  doubts,  we  beseech  Thee.  Forbid  that  we 
should  fight  against  the  laws  of  our  nature  and  seek 
happiness  where  it  is  not.  In  Thy  purpose  is  our 
hope.  Enlarge  our  thoughts  of  Thee  and  of  Thy 
purposes,  and  may  those  things  engage  our  attention 
more  really  which  we  see  to  be  in  the  line  of  Thy 
will.      Give    us    light,    and    give    us    resolution    to 

Footsteiys.  209  P 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

follow  wherever  it  may  lead  us.  Save  us  from  making 
our  own  comfort  a  chief  aim  in  life.  May  we  be 
quickened  to  use  for  the  best  ends  the  influence  Thou 
hast  given  us.  Suffer  us  not  to  weary  in  well-doing. 
Save  us  from  finding  hollowness  in  our  own  hearts 
and  monotony  and  weariness  in  our  lives.  May  we 
have  within  ourselves  Thy  presence  as  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  to  everlasting  life. 


XXXI 

We  are  ashamed  when  we  compare  the  love  we  bear 
to  Christ  with  the  reasons  there  are  for  loving  Him. 
We  have  not  acted  towards  Him  as  we  ought,  because 
we  have  forgotten  that  indeed  He  is  our  hope,  that 
without  Him  it  had  been  better  for  us  never  to  have 
been  ;  we  have  forgotten  whence,  and  to  what,  and  at 
what  a  cost  we  have  been  redeemed,  have  forgotten 
that  we  sat  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death, 
bound  in  affliction  and  irons.  And,  therefore,  we  have 
not  sacrificed  the  sacrifices  of  thanksgiving  to  Him 
who  has  set  the  prisoners  free,  breaking  the  gates  of 
brass  and  cutting  the  bars  of  iron  asunder.  We  have 
been  inconsiderate,  unthoughtful  about  Christ,  and 
therefore  unloving.  0  Lord,  help  us  out  of  our  dead- 
ness.      Give   us   sympathy  with  and  a  deep,  lasting, 

210 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

and  fruitful  gratitude  to  our  Redeemer.  Let  not  the 
dreams  or  realities  of  life  crowd  out  of  our  hearts  the 
great  fact  of  our  redemption.  Let  things  take  posses- 
sion of  our  minds  in  proportion  to  their  real  import- 
ance. Make  us  wise  and  observant  of  the  things  that 
occur,  spiritual  and  temporal,  around  us  and  in  us, 
that  we  may  understand  the  loving-kindness  of  all 
Thy  dealings  towards  us. 

In  no  case  let  us  be  betrayed  into  contentment 
with  a  worldly,  selfish,  easy  life.  Make  us  serious  in 
temper,  sedulous  in  duty,  keenly  alive  to  Thy  dis- 
pleasure. May  pure  aspirations  and  high  aims  never 
depart  from  our  minds.  May  the  image  of  Christ  at 
all  times  stand  before  us. 

We  lament  our  past  uselessness  :  we  have  sought  to 
better  ourselves  and  have  not  "considered  the  poor," 
have  not  spent  thought  on  those  whom  some  sacrifice 
or  effort  might  have  aided.  In  some  cases  we  see  how 
we  could  do  good  ;  give  us  courage  to  do  it,  and  perse- 
verance in  carrying  it  on.  In  some  cases  we  see  much 
need,  but  know  not  how  to  relieve  ;  often  we  fail 
through  lack  of  knowledge,  of  practical  ability.  Help 
us  by  Thy  wisdom  and  Thy  power  and  send  the 
help  Thou  seest  needful. 

Grant  calmness  and  fixedness  of  heart  to  those  that 
are  distracted  with  many  cares,  thankfulness  to  the 
afflicted,  liveliness  and  spirituality  to  the  heartless 
and  dead. 

211 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 


XXXII 


We  thank  Thee  for  forgiveness,  that  by  a  word,  for 
the  asking,  without  toil,  without  penance  on  our  part, 
we  can  be  forgiven.  "We  thank  Thee  that  Thy  wisdom 
and  mercy  have  devised  a  way  of  escape  for  us  guilty 
sinners,  and  that  in  Christ  Jesus  we  can  come  to  Thee 
as  the  just  God  and  the  justifier  of  the  ungodly.  Give 
us  a  clearer  knowledge  of  our  sin.  Illuminate  our 
minds  by  a  sight  of  what  our  lives  would  be  if  we  set 
Thee  always  before  us.  Our  best  righteousnesses  are 
as  filthy  rags  ;  we  are  conscious  of  self  in  our  holiest 
acts ;  our  best  actions  are  stained  with  vanity  and 
love  of  applause.  We  recall  words  we  could  not  have 
spoken  had  we  remembered  Thy  presence,  a  behaviour 
we  could  not  have  adopted  had  we  recognised  ourselves 
as  called  to  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  If  we  have  been  feeling  remote,  may  we  be 
drawn  near  ;  if  we  are  slothful,  indifferent,  may  we 
be  quickened;  if  allowing  ourselves  in  weakening 
indulgences,  give  us  strength  to  resist.  Save  us,  we 
beseech  Thee,  from  great  sins,  from  the  beginnings  of 
evil,  from  false  steps,  and  unconscientious  practices. 
May  we  be  thorough,  sincere,  earnest  in  our  pursuit 
of  holiness.  We  have  not  been  sufficiently  concerned 
about  growth  in  character  to  make  sure  that  we  are 
growing,  or  even  that  the   methods  we   rely  on   are 

212 


PULPIT   PRAYERS 

likely  to  help.  We  have  been  little  concerned  to  be 
more  profitable.  Year  by  year  goes  by,  and  little 
is  accomplished.  Our  energies  are  wasted,  we 
fear  to  act  independently,  to  initiate  a  new  style 
of  living.  We  are  ruled  by  the  opinion  of  the 
world. 

When  changing  circumstances  and  new  periods  of 
life  bring  novel  temptations,  help  us  to  recognise 
and  resist  them.  When  our  minds  are  dull  and 
visited  by  no  inspiring  thoughts,  do  Thou  graciously 
remember  us  and  visit  us  with  the  inspiration  of 
Thy  spirit. 

XXXIII 

Thou  coverest  with  Thy  Divine  presence  and  power 
the  whole  of  our  being,  and  in  everything  that  we  are 
connected  with  we  would  own  Thy  rule  and  govern- 
ment. Thou  hast  brought  us  to  the  close  of  another 
year — a  year  of  Divine  love,  of  pardoning  mercy,  of 
gracious  guidance.  We  rejoice  that  Thou  art  with  us 
through  all  our  years,  through  all  changes — with  us  to 
forgive,  to  encourage,  to  aid.  Help  us  to  leave  behind 
us  the  sins  and  faults  that  have  marred  our  life 
hitherto.  Across  this  line  may  no  evil  thing  pass. 
May  we  without  regret  bid  farewell  to  unlawful  and 
lowering  pleasures,  to  unrighteous  and  selfish  gain. 
May  the   coming  years   show  more   decision   in   our 

213 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

Christian  life,  a  more  zealous  purpose  to  redeem  the 
time,  a  wiser  outlay  of  our  strength. 

"We  thank  Thee  for  positions  of  usefulness  and 
opportunities  of  doing  good  and  being  of  service, 
for  the  accomplishment  of  our  righteous  desires,  and 
for  the  thwarting  of  those  that  were  unwise  or  evil, 
for  the  infinite  prospect  of  good  laid  open  to  us  in  Thy 
promises. 

We  thank  Thee  for  all  Thou  hast  entrusted  us  with, 
for  the  comforts  and  pleasures  of  life,  for  congenial 
friends,  surroundings,  and  occupations.  Above  all,  we 
thank  Thee  that,  for  us  and  for  others.  Thou  hast  a 
purpose  of  good,  that  for  us  there  is  a  Saviour  who  has 
loved  us  and  given  Himself  for  us. 

When  changing  circumstances  and  new  periods  of 
life  bring  novel  temptations,  help  us  to  recognise  and 
resist  them.  If  we  feel  that  our  circumstances  require 
of  us  duties  we  are  little  able  to  perform  and  present 
us  with  opportunities  we  are  unable  fully  to  take 
advantage  of — when  we  begin  to  slacken  all  efforts 
to  be  and  to  do  good,  and  turn  with  distaste  from  all 
that  is  not  pleasing  to  the  flesh,  do  Thou  graciously 
remember  our  frailty  and  revive  us  with  the  influence 
of  Thy  Spirit.  May  our  hope  never  die ;  may  we 
never  feel  as  if  no  new  period  could  bring  us  any 
good.  The  things  we  fear  do  Thou  graciously  avert. 
0  God,  may  highly-prized  lives  be  spared  yet 
awhile. 

214 


PULPIT  PRAYERS 

We  pray  for  all  who  are  in  distress  and  trouble 
of  any  kind.  Enable  them  to  cast  their  care 
upon  Thee,  and  to  find  comfort  in  the  knowledge 
that  Thou,  their  Father,  lovest  them  and  art  caring 
for  them. 


215 


UNWIN  BBOTHEES,  LIMITED, 
WOKING  AND  LONDON. 


V 


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